Dutch Courage

Dutch courage（酒后之勇）

　　英语中，不少俚语都和Dutch（荷兰人）有关，只是，倒霉的“荷兰人”在英美俚语中的角色实在不敢恭维。除了大家最为熟悉的“go Dutch”（AA制）还说的过去，很多由“荷兰人”构成的合成词都带有贬义色调，Dutch courage（酒后之勇）就是一例。

　　“Dutch”在英语词汇中的“贬义地位”，源于17世纪的“Anglo-Dutch Wars”（英荷战争）。为了争夺海上霸权，“荷兰人”曾是英国民众的眼中钉。据载，“Dutch courage”最早出自于英国诗人Edmund Waller（艾德蒙?沃勒）的“Instructions to a painter”，在书中，沃勒戏谑荷兰人，说“荷兰人的勇气”只在酒醉后才瞬时迸发。

　　当然，这句反衬盎格鲁-撒克逊民族英勇的“Dutch courage”自被后世流传至今，看例句：He had a quick drink to give him Dutch courage（为了壮胆，他端起酒一饮而尽）。此外，“酒后之勇”也可用“liquor courage”来表达。

Tale about Dutch Courage

A man had been drinking after dinner, and he was sitting at the table with a few drops of whisky still at the bottom of his glass.

Presently a mouse climbed up the tablecloth and ran about the table picking up crumbs. It climbed up the glass, fell inside, and sucked up all the whisky. Then it began dashing round the glass until it knocked it over, stood up unsteadily on its hind legs, brushed back its whiskers, clenched its front paws, and said: “Now, where’s that damned cat!”