Dutch courage

noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The courage or bravado induced by alcohol. idiomatic, uncountable

    "I was beginning to wish I'd had the sense to spend the last hour in a pub. Dutch courage would have been better than no courage at all."

  2. 2
    courage resulting from intoxication wordnet
  3. 3
    An alcoholic drink, taken to bolster one's courage. idiomatic, uncountable

    "Another five minutes wait and we finally raise glasses in a toast to the evening. ‘So, what's the plan?’ ‘Well, we can go straight to the casino after this or we can get half a skinful of Dutch courage.’"

Etymology

This dates back to a time of intense political rivalry between England and the Netherlands, and was originally an ethnic slur.

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