Ouch!
I would always end the meeting lying on the floor…
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This reminds me of an italian expression “alla romana” whic is relatet to paying drinks or meals.
According to Italian Wikipedia the correct meaning is “paying by dividing the whole amount between all participants”.
Actually there are many who use this expression as the opposite: “everybody paying just for their own expenses”.
This ambiguity is quite common. Actually English Wikipedia translates it as “Going dutch” (which I didn’t know, so I’m still learning something 
) adding to overall confusion.
It happened many times to me, at a restaurant or pizzeria, at the end of the dinner, to hear someone asking “shall we pay alla romana”? And someone else answering: do you mean to divide or to pay each one by himself? 
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Chinese way: 1 pay all (and they fight to have the privilege)
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In the UK, this is pretty much the whole point of going out drinking.
I would say that going Dutch is each paying for themselves. Otherwise it’s “splitting the bill” if you just divide by the number of people so each pays an equal amount.
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In relation to my experience, you put forward an unrepresentative and unduly negative view of English drinking culture.
If, for you, the purpose of drinking at a pub is to have fifteen pints and collapse on the floor then it seems to me that you and your social circle are at fault, not the pub.
Most English people drink, overall, quite responsibly.
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Hum I saw even an English movie in which friends meet again on their older life to revive that kind of experience. Ofc experiences vary.
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We often do that for coffee.
Not very common in pubs and restaurants.
Yes, but the two pages are related in Wikipedia, which adds to the misinterpretation.
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My sister had this little issue when she was working in London. She would sometimes have asked her colleagues if they wanted to go have a little beer after work. But they would always go ‘nooo, I can’t, I need to be fresh tomorrow morning’. Her conclusion was that people here apparently can’t just have one beer after work but must get drunk once they’re inside a pub.
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Sure there some “personal responsibility” to coin a phrase but pubs in general aim to sell as much booze as possible. And the design of many clearly encourages faster drinking. Not that many Brits need much encouragement to drink fast in to excess. There is quite an unhealthy culture around drinking in the UK I think. Not that other places don’t have problems but there is something special about the closing time culture and round buying linked to fast drinking, often exacerbated by not eating (not serving food other than crisps is another good way to sell more booze). Helped along by having to stand and hold your drink and similar tricks by pubs and bars.
There are a lot of responsible drinkers and pub goers. But there are also a lot who are not. My answer was somewhat tongue in cheek but there is rather a large grain of truth behind it.
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Something for the “important questions”-thread. How big can a thing get until it’s not a ‘grain’ anymore, but a nut or a pit?
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A kernel of truth then…
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