grease payment

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Noun

grease payment (plural grease payments)

1. (chiefly US, idiomatic, business, law, ethics) A bribe or extorted money, usually relatively small in amount, provided to a low-level government official or business person, in order to expedite a business decision, shipment, or other transaction, especially in a country where such payments are not unusual.
   • 1981 July 28, Peter Grier, “US curb on overseas bribes: too prim, or simply proper?”, in Christian Science Monitor, retrieved 9 Apr. 2009:

     Critics say there is no distinction between extortion and bribery, and that the distinction between a payoff (illegal) and a "grease" payment made to speed along normal duties (legal under the act) is unclear.

   • 2007 October 30, Mike Rast, “Webinar Prepares Local Companies for Cultural Gaps with India, China”, in globalatlanta.com, retrieved 9 Apr. 2009:

     An important legal distinction is the difference between bribery and “grease payments,” which are paid in these countries not to affect someone’s decision-making but to speed the process of dealing with government.

Synonyms

• baksheesh, grease, grease money, lubrication payment

Translations

bribe

• Arabic: بَخْشِيش m (baḵšīš)
• Dutch: smeergeld (nl)
• Finnish: voiteluraha
• Hungarian: kenőpénz (hu)
• Indonesian: uang pelicin (id), uang pelumas (id), uang semir (id)
• Portuguese: propina (pt)
• Spanish: coima (es)
• Tagalog: padulas

See also

• grease someone's palm