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Jun24
25 ott 2016

  • Giapponese
  • Inglese (Stati Uniti)
  • Francese (Francia)
  • Inglese (Regno Unito)
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Domande Inglese (Stati Uniti)

Che cosa significa I don’t want to get into the economics of it. ?

(This question comes from the following dialogue.)

Man: The members of my college band have finally put aside our differences, and we’re reuniting to play at the fair this afternoon!

Woman: And they pay you for this?

Man: Oh, no. I actually had to grease a few palms to make it happen.

Woman: So, you’re paying them?

Man: I don’t want to get into the economics of it, but this gig is really
important to me.


I'm not sure what the man is saying in the last line.
Does he mean he doesn't want to talk about money in details??

Thank you.
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ronieee
25 ott 2016

  • Inglese (Stati Uniti)

Yes, precisely! It means he doesn't want to talk about the details about the money situation.

wuffles
25 ott 2016

  • Inglese (Stati Uniti)

I'm not sure either but I think he means something like, "I don't want to talk about how I made this happen."

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Jun24
25 ott 2016

  • Giapponese
@ronieee I see. Thanks a lot for answering my question!
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CLund
25 ott 2016

  • Inglese (Stati Uniti)

When he says "I don't want to get into the economics of it." He is avoiding her question or trying to not answer it. To "get into the economics of it" would be to explain the details of the money exchange that ocurred.

To "grease some palms" means to pay money to some people. "palms" are the part of the hand, so it's like putting money in people's hands.

Jun24
25 ott 2016

  • Giapponese
@CLund I got it. Thanks a lot for your detailed explanation! I really appreciate it.

That's an interesting expression. In Japanese, we call that kind of action (putting money) 心付け(kokoro zuke). 心 means "heart", 付け means "put" or "attach".
So when we put money in people's hands, it's like we attach our appreciation with it.
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CLund
25 ott 2016

  • Inglese (Stati Uniti)

@Jun24: Interesting!
"greasing palms" has a bit of a criminal or dishonest connotation (associated meaning) so it isn't quite as friendly as that expression sounds. Thanks for sharing about your language!

Jun24
25 ott 2016

  • Giapponese
@CLund Thank you for additional explanation.
Oh, so it's a bit like "bribe"?

We call that kind of money 袖の下 (sode no shita).
袖 means "sleeves", and 下 means "under."
袖の下 literally means "under the sleeves".
When people used to wear kimono, which has long sleeves,
they could hide those money in their sleeves. =)
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CLund
25 ott 2016

  • Inglese (Stati Uniti)

Yes, very much like a bribe.
We also sometimes describe secret or hidden exchanges as "under the table" as in "They did it under the table" It can be literally passing money or something under a table or can just mean that the exchange was secret.

Jun24
25 ott 2016

  • Giapponese
@CLund That's easy to picture and remember! I like the expression.
Thanks a bunch for teaching me that, too.
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