| Front | douceur /doo-SUHR/ |
|---|---|
| Back | noun A tip or bribe. [From French douceur (sweetness), from Late Latin dulcor (sweetness), from Latin dulcis (sweet). What does dulcimer (a musical instrument), billet-doux (love letter), dolce (music direction) have in common with today's word? All derive from the same Latin root and involve the idea of sweetness.] "But even the most jaundiced observers have been astonished by the discovery of a slush fund of some pounds 40 million from which the douceur to (Charles) Haughey was ladled." Kevin Myers, Ireland's Shame: The Prime Minister and the Tycoon, The Sunday Telegraph (London), Jul 13, 1997. |
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