Dutch treat

American  

noun

Sometimes Offensive.

1. a meal or entertainment for which each person pays their own expenses.

---

Dutch treat British  

noun

1. informal an entertainment, meal, etc, where each person pays for himself

---

Dutch treat Cultural  

1. An outing or date on which each person pays his or her own way. To “go Dutch” is to go on such a date.

---

Dutch treat Idioms  

1. An outing or date in which each person pays his or her own expenses. For example, Her parents agreed that she might date if it were a Dutch treat. The related expression go Dutch means “to go on a date with each person paying their own way,” as in Students often elect to go Dutch. The first term dates from about 1870, and the variant from the early 1900s.

---

Sensitive Note

A Dutch treat is not a treat at all. Because Dutch is used here to negate the concept of a generous treat, the term is sometimes perceived as insulting. See also Dutch.

Etymology

Origin of Dutch treat

First recorded in 1870–75