"Backsheesh" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... this plain-spoken agent whether he was quite sure that he could pass the government station? "Oh yes," he replied, "a little backsheesh will open the road; there ...
— Ismailia • Samuel W. Baker
... half of it on to try and frighten you if you're a new hand," replied Jerrold as he jauntily walked into the cuddy with the air of a commodore. "Only give him a little backsheesh and ...
— Afloat at Last - A Sailor Boy's Log of his Life at Sea • John Conroy Hutcheson
... with a friendly glance, you are implored to come in and sit down, and usually offered a 'coppj' (cup) of herb tea, which they are quite grateful to one for drinking. I never saw or heard a hint of 'backsheesh', nor did I ever give it, on principle and I was always recognised and invited to come again with the greatest eagerness. 'An indulgence of talk' from an English 'Missis' seemed the height of gratification, and the pride and pleasure of giving hospitality a sufficient ...
— Letters from the Cape • Lady Duff Gordon
... and I have again and again protested against the insane Beggars' Carnival which breaks out yearly towards the beginning of December. A man may be pleased enough to hear his neighbour express goodwill, but he does not want his neighbour's hand held forth to grasp our Western equivalent for "backsheesh." In Egypt the screeching Arabs make life miserable with their ceaseless dismal yell, "Backsheesh, Howaji!" The average British citizen is also hailed with importunate cries which are none the less piercing and annoying ...
— The Ethics of Drink and Other Social Questions - Joints In Our Social Armour • James Runciman
... that impressed my pardner fearfully wuz the howlin' dervishes—we'd hearn about 'em a sight, and so we thought we would go and hear 'em howl. By payin' a little backsheesh (which is money) we got permission to attend one of their religious meetin's. There wuz a chief or Sheik, which Josiah always called a "shack"—and I d'no but he wuz well named—and about twenty or thirty howlers in long white robes. ...
— Around the World with Josiah Allen's Wife • Marietta Holley |
