A cumshaw artist is that clever, resourceful person in a military unit who always seems to manage to procure whatever’s needed. This term apparently derives from similar-sounding words in Mandarin, kan hsieh, or kam-si?, in the language spoken...
Bob in Oceanside, California, learned the practical range of Spanish mordida in Baja: it can mean an actual bite, as in a warning about a dog, and in Mexico it can also mean a bribe, the sort demanded instead of a ticket. The English expression put...
A Seattle-area veteran remembers that in Vietnam he and others like him were known as cumshaw artists. They were the guys who scared up and “permanently borrowed” whatever their unit needed— gasoline, vehicle parts, or whiskey for a party. He’s...
whippy n.— «A chief of detectives at Kings Cross, Detective Inspector Brian Meredith, had said he was against police taking regular bribes but as far as he was concerned they could pocket “whippy”—money they found on searches—the Police Royal...
goonda tax n. money extorted as ‘protection’ or to permit passage on public thoroughfares, or paid as a simple bribe. Etymological Note: The Hindi and Urdu term goonda can be translated as rascal or ruffian and even as goon, but there is no evidence...