BRIBERY: OUR DAILY BREAD
In a time when, under the influence of a culture obsessed with slimness and physical perfection, the expression our daily bread has somewhat lost its original meaning, there are other phenomena that have become “our daily bread”. In fact, they have become such a familiar part of daily life that they have almost ceased to be phenomena at all.
One of them is certainly bribery. Or, even more commonly, the well-known duo: bribery and corruption.
If you were to ask non-native speakers of English whether they have come across the words bribe and corruption, most would probably answer yes. Many would even be able to translate them without much thought. Yet terms such as graft, kickback, payoff or grease payment tend to be far less familiar. And that is where the story becomes interesting.
One thing we often hear from our business and legal English students is that they communicate quite comfortably with non-native English-speaking colleagues from different countries. What they find most challenging is communicating with British or American colleagues—native speakers. Not because of their speed of speech or accent, but because of the vocabulary they use, which is often unfamiliar.
A good illustration of this can be found in the wide range of terms English uses to describe corruption and bribery.
English, in fact, distinguishes between different forms of corrupt behaviour far more precisely. For example:
- If we are talking about a one-off payment between two individuals, we will most often use the word bribe.
- If we are referring to the criminal offence or practice of giving and receiving bribes, we will use bribery.
- If we are discussing an entire system of favouritism, political connections, and personal gain derived from public office, we will use graft.
There are even more specific terms.
- When someone receives a share of a contract's value as a "thank-you" after awarding a deal, the appropriate term is kickback.
- When a public official receives money to speed up a procedure that should happen anyway, we typically speak of a facilitation payment or grease payment.
- When someone receives an improper benefit after a decision has already been made, the term is illegal gratuity.
- When someone effectively buys another person's silence, cooperation, or discretion, the correct term is payoff.
- And when a bribe is disguised as a luxury gift, trip, or other benefit, the phrase improper benefit is often used.
This may all seem like splitting hairs. Yet if you open a British or American newspaper, you will quickly notice that the word bribe appears far less frequently than you might expect.
Consider a few examples.
“The director received kickbacks from the contractor amounting to 10 percent of the contract value.”
“Councilman Convicted in Payoff Case”
“Mayor under Investigation for Alleged Graft”
In other words, the word bribe serves as something of an umbrella term for a wide range of practices that English often describes with far greater precision.
And this brings us to an interesting conclusion. From a legal perspective, legislation tends to use a relatively limited number of technical terms. Everyday language, the media, and political discourse, however, have proved far more creative than lawmakers.
That is why, alongside the unavoidable terms bribery and corruption, we encounter expressions such as slush fund (a secret or illicit fund), cronyism (favouritism toward friends, associates, or political allies), nepotism (favouritism toward relatives), pay-to-play (preferential treatment for donors or contributors), and influence peddling (trading on one's influence for personal gain). Each describes a different mechanism of favouritism and abuse of power.
The next time you read a news story about bribery, it is worth asking what kind of conduct is actually involved. Did someone receive a direct financial benefit? Were they selling their influence? Was it a commission paid after a contract was awarded? Or was it a case of systematic favouritism toward political allies?
In Croatian, for instance, all of these situations may be covered by a single term – “mito”.
In English, they almost certainly will not.
And what about in your language?
This article was originally published on the Women in Adria portal on 12 June 2026. You can read it HERE.
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