Byter Carla has asked for a Bytes on the origin of Dutch courage. Here it is.
Meaning:
Courage obtained as a result of being intoxicated or from using alcohol. The implication is therefore that the courage so obtained would not otherwise be present, that is, that the person would be cowardly without the alcohol.
Origin:
References in numerous phrases to things being “Dutch” reflect the low regard the English, and later the colonial Americans, had for the people of Holland. In the 17th and 18th centuries the English and the Dutch were major rivals for control of the seas, trade and colonisation. Four wars, not unsurprisingly termed the Anglo-Dutch Wars, were fought between those countries in those centuries.
