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coffee money

noun
/ˈkɔfi ˌmʌni/

Etymology

A euphemism that refers to the amount of money typically enough to buy a cup of coffee. The bribe or gratuity fee sense is a calque of Malay duit kopi.

Definitions

  1. Loose change.

  2. A small amount of money given as a bribe or gratuity.

    • Obviously he was trying to wear out your patience in the hope that you will hand over some undercounter coffee money to him instead of paying for the official tax/fine which does not benefit him at all.
    • If you have ever paid or are thinking of paying ‘Coffee Money’ when stopped for traffic or other offences, don’t ever do this again.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for coffee money. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA