the Dutch cure

the Dutch cure

The act of committing suicide when considered the cowardly response for one's ailment or woes. The disparaging use of the word "Dutch" is a reference to the fierce rivalry between England and the Dutch in the 17th century. After her daughter died, we were worried that Mary might be tempted to relieve her grief with the Dutch cure. I always told myself that if I were ever diagnosed with a terminal disease, I'd take the Dutch cure to end it all before life became too miserable.
See also: cure, Dutch
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

the Dutch cure

verb
See the Dutch act
See also: cure, Dutch
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • Dutch act
  • the Dutch act
  • do the Dutch
  • show the white feather
  • white feather, to show the
  • somewhere to the right of Genghis Khan
  • goy
  • Dutch reckoning
  • titless wonder
  • a fat cat
References in periodicals archive
Herbert Hendin, MD, Executive Director of the American Suicide Foundation and Professor of Psychiatry at New York Medical College, has written the following authoritative analysis of euthanasia in The Netherlands in his Seduced By Death: Doctors, Patients and the Dutch Cure. Here are some key quotes:
Euthanasia: can it ever be right to legalise it?
As the complex and emotional arguments ebb and flow in this country, we would do well to take a look at the Netherlands, "the only country where euthanasia is accepted practice," as Herbert Hendin writes in Seduced by Death: Doctors, Patients and the Dutch Cure (Norton, 256 pages, $27.50).
As assisted suicide and euthanasia issues simmer, look at Holland
Get hold of Herbert Hendin's excellent book, Seduced by Death: Doctors, Patients, and the Dutch Cure, 1997.
The euthanasia debate in Canada