单词 | to oil the knocker |
释义 | > as lemmasto oil the knocker a. transitive. colloquial. to oil a person's palm (also †fist, hand): to give a bribe or gratuity to someone; (also, simply) to bribe (cf. grease v. 4b, anoint v. Phrases). Also to oil the knocker: to bribe or tip a doorman or caretaker (now rare). ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > illegal payment or exaction > [verb (intransitive)] > practise bribery to grease (a person's) hand (also palm)1528 to anoint a person's hand1542 bribe1547 whiddlec1661 to mollify the fist1698 boodle1887 to oil a person's palm1925 1602 2nd Pt. Returne fr. Parnassus ii. ii. 601 Must his worships fists bee needs then oyled with Angells? 1652 J. Wright tr. J.-P. Camus Nature's Paradox ix. 210 Speaking in private to the same Officer (whose hand he had already oyled). 1855 J. L. Motley Rise Dutch Republic II. iii. vii. 406 He should believe that their palms had been oiled. 1870 E. C. Brewer Dict. Phrase & Fable 632/1 To oil the knocker, to fee the porter. The expression is from Racine, On n'entre point chez lui sans graisser le marteau (No one enters his house without oiling the knocker)—‘Les Plaideurs’. 1901 Daily Chron. 13 Aug. 6/7 Certain officials had to be ‘oiled’. 1925 A. Huxley Let. 2 Nov. (1969) 259 I gather that corruption is the great curse everywhere in India and that it is very difficult to get anything done without first oiling somebody's palm. 1968 Gloss. Brit. Argot (Paramount Pictures) Oil the knocker, tip the porter or caretaker. < as lemmas |
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