Dutch Auction, A: a method of sale whereby the price of an article is successively reduced until a purchaser is forthcoming.
Dutch Bargain, A: (1) a one-sided bargain. From the couplet:— 'In matters of commerce the fault of the Dutch / Is giving too little and asking too much.'
(2) a bargain concluded by the parties drinking together.
Dutch Comfort: comfort derived from the knowledge that affairs might be worse than they are.
Dutch Concert, A: a great commotion and uproar, such as that made by a company of intoxicated Dutchmen.
Dutch Courage: physical courage induced by intoxication.
Dutch Feast, A: an entertainment at which the host gets drunk first.
Dutch Gleek: drinking. Gleek is an old game. The suggestion is that the favorite game of the Dutch is drinking.
Dutch Nightingales: frogs.
Dutch, To beat the: to make a statement apparently incredible.
Dutch Uncle, To talk like a: to reprove sharply. The Dutch were reputed to exercise severe discipline.
—Albert M. Hyamson, in A Dictionary of English Phrases. And the Oxford English Dictionary has this to add: "Dutch wife: a bolster used for resting the legs in bed."
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comment here.