

왜 부정 자금을 ‘슬러시 펀드’라고 하는가?
slush
slush는 “(녹아서) 진창이 된 눈, 질펀한 감상, 질펀하게 감상적인 이야기(영화), 주스 등의 음료를 마시거나 떠먹을 수 있게 살짝 얼린 것”, slush up은 “(길 따위가) 진창이 되다, 진창이 되게 하다”, a snowy or slush-filledstreets는 “눈이 쌓인 또는 눈 녹은 질퍽한 거리”를 뜻한다. In the city the clean white snow had turned togrey slush(도시에서는 깨끗하던 흰 눈이 잿빛 진창으로 변해 있었다). The road has slushed up(길이 진창이 되었다).1)
그런데 slush엔 ‘음식물 찌꺼기’란 뜻도 있다. 원래 영국 해군 함정의 조리장에서 나온 음식물 찌꺼기를 가리키는 말이었다. 그 찌꺼기 중에는 소금에 절인 돼지고기를 요리하는 과정에서 나오는 고기의 지방이 많았는데, 이는 윤활유의 원료로 쓰였다(slush엔 윤활유라는 뜻도 있다). 병사들은 고기 지방을 따로 모아 돈을 받고 팔아 넘겼는데, 이렇게 해서 모은 돈을 slush fund라고 했다. 정치 분야에서 이 말이 쓰이면서 뇌물과 같은 부정 자금의 뜻을 갖게 되었다.2)
a slush fund는 “부정 자금, 뇌물(매수) 자금”, slush fund creation(raising a slush fund)은 “비자금의 조성”이다. 유명 출판사엔 이름 없는 필자들이 보낸 원고들이 한구석에 쌓여 있기 마련인데, 이를 가리켜 ‘슬러시 파일(slush files)’이라고도 한다.3)
It has become easier for corrupt politicians and businessmen to create slush funds with this high-denominated banknote(부패한 정치인들과 기업인들이 고액권으로 비자금을 조성하는 것이 더 쉬워졌다).
He put away a slush fund a couple of years ago(그는 몇 년 전에 비자금을 많이 챙겨두었대). Allegations of bribery and a slush fund creation were not substantiated(뇌물과 비자금 조성에 관한 혐의는 입증되지 않았다).4)
[네이버 지식백과] 왜 부정 자금을 ‘슬러시 펀드’라고 하는가? - slush (인문학은 언어에서 태어났다, 2014. 12. 8., 인물과사상사)
A slush fund (also black fund), colloquially, is an auxiliary monetary account or a reserve fund. However, in the context of corrupt dealings, such as those by governments or large corporations, a slush fund can have particular connotations of illegality, illegitimacy, or secrecy in regard to the source of the funds or how they were acquired or for what purposes they were used. Funds are usually made to discreetly pay influential people in return for preferential treatment, advance information (for example, to acquire non-public information in financial transactions) or some other service. [1]
Political dealings with slush funds tend to create suspicions of quid pro quo(buying political favors), and can be viewed on the surface as corrupt and subversive of the democratic process. For example, Richard Nixon's "Checkers speech" of 1952 was a successful effort to dispel a scandal concerning a rumored slush fund of campaign contributions. Years later Nixon's campaign did use slush funds to buy the silence of the "White House Plumbers".[citation needed]
A slush fund can also be connected to amateur level athletics. In the past fifty years, there have been multiple[citation needed] occurrences where boosters and supporters of a collegiate sport program provide the school and coaches with extra money. This money is then distributed to a number of athletes in order to compensate them for their participation and commitment to their program.
Some of the most memorable scandals that involved slush funds with college athletics occurred at Southern Methodist University in 1986 and the University of Michigan in the 1990s. Southern Methodist's football team was caught receiving money from the school which was being funded by one of the boosters. The University of Michigan had one booster paying several of the men's basketball players, including NBA superstar Chris Webber.
The term slush fund is used in accounting to describe a general ledgeraccount in which all manner of transactions can be posted to commingled funds and "loose" monies by debits and credits cancelling each other out.
Etymology[edit]
The term slush fund was originally a nautical term: the slush was the fat or grease that was skimmed from the top of the cauldron when boiling salted meat. Ship officers would sell the fat to tallow makers, and the money from that sale was called a slush fund.[2]
References[edit]
- ^ Law, Jonathan. A Dictionary of Finance and Banking, 5 ed. ed., 2014. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199664931.001.0001/acref-9780199664931-e-3516
- ^ "slush fund, n." OED online. Oxford University Press, September 2016. Web. 8 September 2016.
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