coffee money

English

Etymology

A euphemism that refers to the amount of money typically enough to buy a cup of coffee. The Southeast Asian sense is a calque of Malay duit kopi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔfi ˌmʌni/

Noun

coffee money (uncountable)

1. (slang) Loose change.
2. (Southeast Asia, idiomatic, politics) A small amount of money given as a bribe or gratuity.
   • 1998, Alexandra Kett, Passport Singapore: Your Pocket Guide to Singaporean Business, Customs & Etiquette, page 31:

     Singapore is free of corruption as any place on earth. (Even small-scale bribery attempts lead to immediate arrest.) Ironically, this has surfaced as a disadvantage for Singaporeans conducting business in other countries - where contacts aren’t always considered binding, bureaucratic inefficiency can make a mockery of time tables, infrastructures can be unreliable, “quality” may be seen as a relative term and “tea money” (known as “coffee money” during Singapore’s British colonial days) is a prerequisite to getting anything done.

   • 2008 March 31, Alan Wong, “The Stupid Things I Did At The Malaysian Custom”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[1]:

     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.

   • 2010 September 16, Roger Poh, “Driving in Malaysia: Why you mustn’t bribe Malaysian traffic cops”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[2]:

     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.

Translations

euphemism for small bribe

• Chinese:

  Hokkien: 咖啡鐳／咖啡镭 (ko-pi-lui)

  Mandarin: 咖啡錢／咖啡钱 (kāfēiqián)

• Malay: duit kopi (ms)

See also

• tea money