pick up

[snade17]

What is the meaning of "pick up"? Here is the context:

If you have the energy, you can always do the polite thing when the meal finally ends, and offer to pay. Then, after a lively discussion, you must remember the next polite thing to do - let your host pick up the bill.

[amigos4]

Originally Posted by snade17

What is the meaning of "pick up"? Here is the context:

If you have the energy, you can always do the polite thing when the meal finally ends, and offer to pay. Then, after a lively discussion, you must remember the next polite thing to do - let your host pick up the bill.

Hi, snade!

Deciding who is going to pay for the meal is usually a tricky situation. However, there are some common rules of etiquette that should be followed.

If your host invites you to a meal by saying: "I'd like to take you to dinner tonight." It is clear that he wants to pay for the meal. Your response when the bill arrives could be: "Are you sure I can't help with that?" When your host says, "No!', you express your appreciation by saying: "Thank you."

Visualize the bill setting on the table top. Your host will reach out and "pick up" the bill in order to pay it. In common usage, the person who 'picks up' the bill is the person who is responsible for paying. "Let's go to dinner tonight; my dad is picking up the bill."

Cheers,
Amigos4

[David L.]

Where did this advice come from?????
I'm not sure what having 'energy" has to do with whether you offer to pay for the meal or not. Also, if you follow this advice, you may notice that the number of suggestions from friends that you go out to dinner starts to drop off. Can you see why - the longer-term consequences of this advice?

I strongly suspect this must be from a humourous piece of writing, such as a book that might be entitled, "The Lazy Man's Guide to Financial Security Through Economizing.". (lol)
At the end of a meal, when you are ready to leave the restaurant, the waiter places the bill, or tab, on the table. The meaning of the expression, "pick up the bill" (British) and "pick up the tab" (American), refers to the physical act of who reaches out and actually picks up the bill, with the intent of reading the amount, and paying it. So, instead of "paying the bill", we colloquially say, "pick up the bill."

[Ouisch]

I agree with Amigos. Even if you have been invited out to dinner by someone, it is still traditional (in the US at least) to make at least a token offer to either pick up the tab or help with it. Your host will then assure you that the meal is on him, and it is considered impolite to protest any further.

[Anglika]

I too agree with Amigos - it is a common and well-recognized usage.

[snade17]

Thank you very much for your comments. You were most helpful!