Idiom of the week: To go Dutch

This is another 'oldie', at least for me. I've just discovered where it comes from though -and it's clever!

"To go Dutch" means that, when you are with a group of people, each person pays for their own expenses. It's particularly useful when it comes to a restaurant bill, and it can be interpreted in two different ways: either you only pay for what you've had, or the bill is split evenly among all the people in the group. We've got equivalents in Spanish for both: "ir a escote" or "ir a pachas".

Now, what's even more interesting: the origin of the idiom "to go Dutch" goes back to the concept of a Dutch door -a door divided horizontally in two equal halves. Can't picture it? Think of the classical stable door: the lower half remains closed (so that animals can't get out) while the upper half is open (to allow light and fresh air inside, for example). To me, it's a brilliant metaphor of equal sharing.

For the record, let me tell you that going Dutch is very common in the UK and other countries in Northern Europe, and it's not seen as an act of stinginess or lack of generosity.