Get Access to Print and Digital for $23.99 per year.
Subscribe for Full Access
May 2013 Issue [Readings]

The Elements of Guile

From more than 3,000 terms used in emails between employees engaged in corporate wrongdoing, collected from fraud investigations since 2009 and used by the accounting firm Ernst & Young in the development of its Fraud Triangle Analytics software, which flags personal correspondence in which expressions of “incentive/pressure” and “opportunity” coincide with “rationalization.”

cover up
gray area
special payment
off the books
facilitation fee
bullshit
cash incentive
special service
under the radar
cookie jar
offshore
quid pro quo
adjust invoices
shady deal
hush money
friend fee
massage earnings
I’m the boss
for crying out loud
corrupt bastard
deep shit
want no part of this
hit the fan
It’s gonna be my ass
Everyone does it
too stupid to figure it out
fresh start
I don’t get paid enough
told me to
gambling problem
not a good idea
ticking time bomb
tired of this
It’s immaterial
treat me this way
part of my job
phony
divorce
girlfriend
medical bills
vacation home
wife is demanding
broke
charade
ploy
play ball
red tape
sweetener
Don’t worry about it
No one will notice
undefined

| View All Issues |

May 2013

Close
“An unexpectedly excellent magazine that stands out amid a homogenized media landscape.” —the New York Times
Subscribe now

Debug