Don't everyone try to take credit for "going Dutch" at once

Strangest fact: Going Dutch is blessed from on high. When the check arrives in Guatemala or Honduras, people say the rhyme, “Como dijo Cristo, cada quien con su pisto,” or “As Christ said, each one with their own stew.” (Pisto is a ratatouille-like stew, but also slang for money in Honduras.)

Going Dutch also has roots in antiquity, as Italians “pay as the Romans do,” and El Salvadorians use the rhyme, “Ley de Esparta, cada quien paga lo que se harta” (“Spartan law: each pays for what they eat”). Pretty much anything sounds badass if you preface it with “Spartan Law.”

Thing we were happiest to learn: Central America isn’t the only place where people have a cute phrase to say when the check comes. Nepalese say “aafno aafno” (yours, yours); in Bangladesh they use “je je, jar jar” (his his, whose whose). But our favorite is from Chile and Uruguay, where diners “hacer una vaca” (make a cow). One person collects the money for the table; unclear how the cow factors in.

Thing we were unhappiest to learn: These kids today just don’t appreciate tradition. In many parts of the world, going Dutch is becoming widespread among the young, replacing older social norms. In China, the person with the most money or social standing generally was expected for the whole group; this system has broken down to the point where payment apps like WeChat and Alipay now have a “split the bill” feature built in.

Best link to elsewhere on Wikipedia: Those apps are sometimes referred to as “super apps.” The term was first coined to describe WeChat, which combined instant messaging and online payments, but can now include any app with multiple uses, including social media, job listings, food delivery, and the like. Elon Musk long dreamed of turning Twitter into a super app that incorporated the features of PayPal, the company that made him rich, although X’s “digital wallet” feature has been announced and postponed multiple times. In the end, the only feature Musk added to X was a Nazi chatbot that makes CSAM on demand.

Further down the Wormhole: “Going Dutch” is also catching on with the younger generation in Afghanistan, replacing the earlier phrase “bandar,” which means “group food.” While much of that country is mountainous desert, Afghanistan also has forests of pine, fir and spruce trees. The latter—distinct from other conifers because of their four-sided needles—provided the wood used by the Wright Brothers when they build the Wright Flyer. It was the first plane to make a controlled, sustained flight, but what next month’s column presupposes is… maybe it didn’t? We’ll look at Gustave Whitehead and his questionable claims to fame next time.