Hello and welcome back to the English Language Clinic. This week?s question is: ?Does ?to be paid off? mean ?to embezzle??? No: to ?embezzle? is to dishonestly take something which you have been ?entrusted with? (trusted to look after). It is the breaking of this trust which, for the majority of people, makes this crime so ?heinous? (wicked, evil). The word ?embezzle? should not be confused with ?imbecile?, which means a person of low intelligence; although many would argue that there is a connection. The crime of ?embezzlement? is closely related to that of ?larceny? and there are a number of expressions which have similar meanings, including ?swindle? and ?defraud?.

One of the most common examples of embezzlement involves workers in shops taking money from their employers; this has given rise to expressions, which include the word ?till? (the machine in which money is kept). Such expressions include ?till dipping?, ?robbing the till? and ?having your hand in the till?. When the criminal is a politician or other authority figure, you might say that they are ?dipping into the public purse? or ?plundering?.

?To be paid off?, on the other hand, refers to the acceptance of a ?bribe?; a gift or sum of money given to someone in exchange for preferential treatment. ?Bribery? is not the same as ?extortion?, this involves something being taken from someone against their will (similar to ?blackmail? and the payment of ?protection money?). Understandably, there are a number of euphemisms for bribes, for example, ?sweeteners?, ?kick-backs?, ?back-handers? and ?commissions?. A state in which bribery has become ?endemic? (very regular, a way of life) is known as a ?kleptocracy?.

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