Baksheesh Totally Explained

Everything about Backshish totally explained

Baksheesh is a term used to describe both tipping, charitable giving and certain forms of political corruption and bribery in the Middle East and South Asia.

Origins

Baksheesh is a Persian word, written and originating from the Pahlavi (Middle Iranian) language (source: Dehkhoda dictionary).

Types of baksheesh

Charity to beggars. In Pakistan beggars will solicit alms by crying 'baksheesh, baba!'.
Tipping. This doesn't correlate with the European system of tipping, as it also includes demonstrations of gratitude, respect or veneration. An offering to the gods may be considered baksheesh. A faqir may also ask for baksheesh but there's no thought in his mind that he's begging. In fact, in Pakistan and the Muslim world the giver of alms often salutes the beggar for having been given the opportunity to gain merit. In Egypt it's expected that baksheesh will be paid on top of fares to taxi drivers and on top of "service charges" to waiters, as well as to doormen, shopkeepers, garage attendants and everyone else employed in service sector jobs.
Outright bribery. For instance, if a police officer catches you with a chillum full of charas you may have the choice between going to jail or paying baksheesh.

European Usage

The word also moved westward. In Romanian, Serbian, as well as Bulgarian бакшиш means "tip" in the conventional sense. In Greek μπαξίσι (baksisi) can mean a gift in general. In German Bakschisch is used to describe a small bribe.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Backshish'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://baksheesh.totallyexplained.com">Baksheesh Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.