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Mar 5, 2010
This week's theme
Words borrowed from various languages

This week's words
goulash
cabal
potlatch
laager
baksheesh

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Words related to 16

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

baksheesh

PRONUNCIATION:
(BAK-sheesh)

MEANING:
noun: A payment, such as a tip or bribe.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Persian bakhshish, from bakhshidan, from baksh (to give).

USAGE:
"A certain favoritism, even in the absence of baksheesh-pocketing headwaiters, is indispensable to restaurants that expect to maintain a steady clientele -- especially in New York, where every other big shot seems to demand the 'best' table and, instead of something fabulous to eat, a custom-baked potato."
Thomas McNamee; The Joy of Cooking; The New York Times Book Review; Jun 23, 2002.

"About 130 officials were fired for taking baksheesh, and the volume of tariff revenue that actually reached state coffers jumped by almost 50% in two years."
Maturing Mozambique; The Economist (London, UK); Dec 4, 1999.

See more usage examples of baksheesh in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
In the presence of eternity, the mountains are as transient as the clouds. -Robert Green Ingersoll, lawyer and orator (1833-1899)

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