From the Wordsmith: "Chinese wall", "French leave" and "Dutch courage"

We talked about “Chinese puzzle” and “Queer Street”. This time we look at: "Chinese wall", "French leave" and "Dutch courage".

Another 3 examples of potentially offensive phrases if used inconsiderately. Their definitions:

Chinese wall: “a strong barrier; especially: a serious obstacle to understanding” – merriam-webster.com

French leave: “an unauthorized or unannounced absence or departure” – collinsdictionary.com

Dutch courage: “false courage gained from drinking alcohol” – collinsdictionary.com

A bit more information about them.

In business, a Chinese wall is an information barrier to prevent conflicts of interest.

For French leave, they say in the 18th century in France, it was the custom to leave an event without saying goodbye to the host.

And Dutch courage does imply more distaste.