Going Dutch - The Best Way!

I'm sure most of my generation Indians would clearly understand this 'slang' phrase. "Going Dutch is a slang term indicating that each person participating in a shared activity pays for himself or herself, rather than any one person paying for anyone else. It is also called Dutch date and Dutch Treat." - Webster's

The other day I was out for lunch with a couple of my European friends and when the "l'addition" arrived no one jumped at it and one guy calculated how much each should contribute and then it was superbly settled by everyone pitching in and sharing right to the last pence. I'm used to this by now and I like it tons. I declared that 'Going Dutch' was simply superb and gave all of us many more opportunities to meet. None of the guys understood what that phrase was and there were some Dutch and German guys in the group too. I tried to rack my brains about the meaning of the term and it's origins and prayed that I hadn't insulted anyone by using it. I promised all of them to throw more light on the ancestry of this phrase and explained that it means exactly what we did.

In Europe 'Going Dutch' is a common way of living EVEN between a husband and a wife - some feministic outlook I suppose. Almost all the times when I go out with my husband we are asked if we'd like to pay together or seperatly. That's part of the culture here. But where did that phrase originate? It's very simple its an etiquette followed in the Netherlands. During the Anglo - Dutch wars, over the centuries, the English uncovered this etiquette - vastly different from the English chivalry and thus a source of entertainment. At first it was used to ridicule people but later became a more accepted form of modern living.

In India I grew up with the more traditional form of payment method, i.e. the MAN pays it all. My husband conforms to the old world traditions in all payments and never allows me to spend a dime until its a present for him. (It's fantastic for me but unbelievable for my European friends. Most of them think I lead the life of a princess or some royalty coz my husband pays it all...) So dear friends this phrase is simply a reflection of the culture followed in most parts of northern Europe and America. The southern half of Europe is more traditional. Italy, Greece, Spain are like India where the Man or the Head of the Family pays.

Amongst the youth it's changing and they might use various phrases depending on which part of the world they are eating in : pagare alla romana, hesabı Alman usulü ödemek, pagar a la americana, a la ley de Cristo... cada quien con su pisto, TTMM - Tera Tu Mera Main (this I never heard), Kanya-Kanyang Bayad, "AA制 (AA zhì) = Going Dutch!