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Chris -- 2018-04-11
I’ve been following with interest the discussion- following the posting of ‘assinine’ – of the semi-eggcornish practice of reinterpreting a single syllable within a word. This might be another example. ‘Baksheesh’ is a Persian word for a tip, charitable donation, or bribe; in a sense, it’s about giving something ‘back.’ So it makes as much sense to find ‘back’ in ‘baksheesh’ as it does to find ‘ass’ in ‘asinine’ or ‘word’ in ‘awkward.’ And it’s very common- 20k ghits vs. 89k for the original. Examples:
The family member was reported as having bitterly noted that Muslims in a European country were able to start their own business without the backsheesh …
sigmundcarlandalfred.wordpress.com/2006/03/22/why-i-hate-islam/
It was undoubtedly a question of the division of backsheesh among the three men.
links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0026-1521(192109)1%3A16%3A9%3C192%3AAROAP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-L
The key was in the care of some Bedouin tenting near at hand, who in the hope of a liberal backsheesh allowed us to enter.
links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-9114(191410%2F12)18%3A4%3C492%3AANDIMN%3E2.0.CO%3B2-O
They get bruised on the rocks also, and have time to show us their barked shins and request backsheesh.
www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1875nile.html
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‘Backhander’, commonly used to mean ‘bribe’ and describing perfectly the swift, surreptitious transfer of funds may be exerting some influence here…
25 Nov 2007 … In the end, I had to negotiate my way out of it by slipping him a backhander – about $10 worth. Living in Britain with children means Bali …
travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/ life_and_style/travel/news/article2926647.ece
... hero and inspiration of his was advising him on policy that he gave it to a few mates to develop into housing and in return they bung him a backhander. ...
www.amazon.com/Watch-Out-David-Hasselhoff/dp/B000031X09 – 174k – Cached
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