Dutch courage

American  

noun

Sometimes Offensive.

1. courage inspired by drunkenness or drinking liquor.

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Dutch courage British  

noun

1. false courage gained from drinking alcohol

2. alcoholic drink

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Dutch courage Idioms  

1. False courage acquired by drinking liquor, as in He had a quick drink to give him Dutch courage. This idiom alludes to the reputed heavy drinking of the Dutch, and was first referred to in Edmund Waller's Instructions to a Painter (1665): “The Dutch their wine, and all their brandy lose, Disarm'd of that from which their courage grows.”

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Sensitive Note

Dutch courage is foolish courage or misplaced confidence. Because “Dutch” is used to imply that the courage is not genuine, the term is sometimes perceived as insulting to or by the Dutch. See also Dutch.

Etymology

Origin of Dutch courage

First recorded in 1805–15

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Dutch courage

Dutch courage … John le Carré's Toby Bell takes to a cafe to prepare himself to steal an illicit recording back from his employer.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 12, 2013

Running gives Dutch courage, so we dropped from our wall, and we, too, began running—towards the deserters.

From Indiscreet Letters From Peking Being the Notes of an Eye-Witness, Which Set Forth in Some Detail, from Day to Day, the Real Story of the Siege and Sack of a Distressed Capital in 1900—The Year of Great Tribulation by Putnam Weale, B. L. (Bertram Lenox)

Cowardice -- N. cowardice, pusillanimity; cowardliness &c. adj.; timidity, effeminacy. poltroonery, baseness; dastardness†, dastardy†; abject fear, funk; Dutch courage; fear &c.

From Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases by Roget, Peter Mark

"Dutch courage is cheap enough," said a contemptuous, sneering voice in the background, and the sound of shuffling footsteps succeeded it.

From The White Blackbird by Douglas, Hudson

That’s what all fellows who go in for a bit of a spree with other people’s coin say to themselves, so as to give them Dutch courage.

From The New Mistress A Tale by Fenn, George Manville

Related Words

• drunkenness
• liquid courage