kitu kidogo

Swahili

Etymology

From kitu (“thing”) +‎ kidogo (“little”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Noun

kitu kidogo (ki-vi class, plural vitu vidogo)

1. a little something
2. (Kenya) a bribe

   Synonyms: rushwa, hongo, (Kenya) chai

References

• Gettleman, Jeffrey (2016 July 11) “Kenya Mocks Its Woes in Wry Verbal Shorthand”, in The New York Times‎^[1] (in English): “The one you hear most often, though, is “kitu kidogo” — a little something. That is the Kenyans’ resigned way of referring to the bribes, kickbacks and pervasive graft that keep their country at the shameful end of Transparency International’s corruption index year after year.”