cold drink money
South African slang for a small bribe or informal payment slipped to someone to grease the wheels — the verbal equivalent of palming a few notes.
Definitions
South African slang for a small bribe or informal payment slipped to someone to grease the wheels — the verbal equivalent of palming a few notes. The phrase frames corruption in casual, almost innocent terms: it's just enough cash to buy a cold drink, nothing serious. Used in everyday contexts from traffic stops to queue-jumping, it softens the reality of petty corruption by making it sound like a friendly gesture rather than rule-bending.
The guard looked the other way after Marcus handed him a little cold drink money to let the truck through without inspection.
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(slang, South Africa) a small bribe.
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Semantically related
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South African and Indian English slang for what most of the world calls a soft drink or soda — your Coke, Fanta, lemonade, or any other chilled, non-alcoholic fizzy beverage. In South Africa, "cooldrink" is so standard that it barely registers as slang; it's just what you call the stuff. The word has a nostalgic, childhood flavor for many South Africans — think school tuck shops, birthday parties, and hot afternoons. If you ask for a cooldrink in Joburg, everyone knows exactly what you want.
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(Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, idiomatic, politics) A small amount of money given as a bribe or gratuity.
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(Britain, slang, archaic) (A gift of) drink money.
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(AU, slang) A cold serving of beer.