coffee money | Idiomator

Meaning: (slang)Loose change.; (Malaysia,Singapore,Indonesia,idiomatic,politics)Asmallamountofmoneygiven as abribeorgratuity.1998, Alexandra Kett,Passport Singapore: Your Pocket Guide to Singaporean Business, Customs & Etiquette, page31: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.2008March 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 undercountercoffee moneyto him instead of paying for the official tax/fine which does not benefit him at all.2010September 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.

Examples:

EN: I just raised some coffee money,no sweat.
ES: "He conseguido dinero para el café."
EN: It's better than coffee money.
ES: Esto es mejor que nada.
EN: I got coffee money going on this game.
ES: Tengo el dinero del café apostado en este juego.
EN: Do we have so much coffee money?
ES: ¿Había mucho dinero para el café?
EN: Not just sodbusting Marcus, fighting skinny dirt to scratch up a crop that won't even pay coffee money.
ES: No sólo el Marcus que rompe la tierra, luchando para sacarle una cosecha que ni pagará por el café.
EN: If you keep pumping coffee money into him, he'll tell you a story about baseball and aliens and bounty hunters.
ES: Si le mete monedas, le contará una historia de béisbol, alienígenas y cazarrecompensas.
ID: Kau terus memasukkan uang receh ke dalamnya dia akan menceritakan sebuah kisah tentang bisbol alien, dan pemburu.
EN: I don't care if we had extra coffee money left over...
ES: No me importa que nos haya sobrado para comprar café.
EN: And no dates for two weeks or parties or coffee money.
ES: Y no habrá citas por dos semanas, ni fiestas, ni dinero para tomar café.
EN: Same thing about the coffee money.
ES: Lo mismo vale para el dinero del café.
EN: It's a box for coffee money.
ES: Es un tarro para el dinero del café.
EN: There's a good chance he's collecting coffee money in some of these places.
ES: Hay una buena probabilidad de que esté recaudando dinero del café en alguno de estos lugares.
EN: If we're going to meet in the street to save coffee money then you should be on time.
ES: Si nos vamos a encontrar en la calle para ahorrar el dinero del café entonces deberías estar a tiempo.
EN: Yeah, Dad, if you add all that coffee money up, what's that?
ES: Sí, papá, si agregas todo ese dinero de café, ¿cuánto es?
EN: This is coffee money.
ES: Es un vuelto.
EN: I don't care if we had extra coffee money left over,
ID: Aku tak peduli kita masih punya uang kopi.

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