pay packet
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun: 1. A sealed envelope or container holding an employee's wages in cash: This term traditionally refers to the physical packet, typically an envelope, containing the cash amount of a worker's wages for a specific pay period, ready for hand-to-hand distribution. 2. The amount of money earned as wages; one's salary: By extension, "pay packet" is commonly used to refer to the total sum of money one earns from their job, regardless of the method of payment (e.g., cash, bank transfer).
Usage Examples
- Referring to the physical envelope:
- On Friday afternoon, the manager handed each worker their pay packet.
- Before direct deposit was common, employees would line up to collect their pay packets from the accounts office.
- Referring to the amount of salary:
- He was delighted with the bonus in this month's pay packet.
- The rising cost of living means my pay packet doesn't stretch as far as it used to.
Advanced Usage
- "A thin/fat pay packet": An idiomatic way to describe a small or large amount of wages.
- After the tax increase, everyone was left with a much thinner pay packet.
- The new sales commission should result in a fatter pay packet next month.
Variants and Related Words
- Paycheck (noun, chiefly US): The check received as wages from an employer. It is functionally equivalent to "pay packet" in referring to both the physical item and the amount earned.
- Wages (noun): Money paid, especially at a regular rate, for labor or services.
- Salary (noun): A fixed regular payment, typically paid monthly but often expressed as an annual sum, made by an employer to an employee.
Synonyms
- Earnings
- Remuneration
- Take-home pay
Related Idioms
- "To be in/out of the packet": Informal British English meaning to be paid or not yet paid.
- I can't go out until I'm in the packet. (I can't go out until I've been paid.)
- "The contents of the pay packet": Emphasizes the actual monetary value of the wages.
- The union is negotiating to improve the contents of the pay packet for all staff.
Noun
- wages enclosed in an envelope for distribution to the wage earner