The clerk asked for a grease payment to process the form quickly.
grease payment
idiomA 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.
Origin
disputed originSee lubrication payment § Etymology.
To ensure the shipment cleared customs without further delay, the manager authorized a small grease payment to the local official.
While the company maintained a strict policy against corruption, the local representative argued that a modest grease payment was an unavoidable necessity to secure the permit in that region.
- 01
elbow grease
Effort or hard work, especially physical work involving repeated motion of the forearm, such as scrubbing.
- 02
grease monkey
A mechanic, often with the specific connotation of an automobile mechanic.
- 03
grease someone's palm
To bribe a person.
- 04
grease the skids
To create conditions likely to produce or hasten favorable future developments.
- 05
grease the wheels
To create conditions likely to produce or hasten favorable future developments.
- 06
lubrication payment
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.
- 07
yellow grease
Used vegetable oil purposed for use as biodiesel.