Timeline for What's the opposite of the phrase "pay under the table"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
9 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| May 14, 2021 at 11:54 | comment | added | MrWhite | Aside: "aboveboard", "above board" and "above-board" would all seem to be valid forms of this compound word. (The OED and ODO list it as two words.) | |
| May 13, 2021 at 15:53 | comment | added | Paul_Pedant | "Board is a direct synonym for "Table". Paying "Bed and Board" means you get your accommodation and your meals in the price. | |
| May 13, 2021 at 4:01 | comment | added | jmarkmurphy | Just want to mention that above board is completely natural, and would be seen more often then on the books in my part of the USA. | |
| May 12, 2021 at 17:34 | comment | added | Beni Cherniavsky-Paskin | For company–employees relation they might be similar, but I've heard "under the table" used more for corruption/bribery. "On the books" to me sounds mostly about accounting (with the consequence of paying full taxes). "Under the table" is not just how money changed hands but what for. For example, a company giving employees a bonus for posting fake product reviews is not "above board", even if that's part of fully disclosed & taxed salary... | |
| May 12, 2021 at 15:01 | comment | added | user1717828 | @CCTO, I'm happy this isn't marked as accepted. I would have no idea what someone means when they say this, where I would know exactly what keeping employees on the books means. The question asked about the opposite, but it also asked about what is natural, which this phrase is not. | |
| May 12, 2021 at 8:01 | comment | added | Steve | Used in a sentence: e.g. "All payments to employees are completely above board" (directly exchanging "under the table" for "above board" in the original sentence would sound unnatural to me, although I'd understand the meaning) | |
| May 12, 2021 at 2:04 | comment | added | Chris Bouchard | Above board is a bit more broad than under the table. It just means "legitimate, honest, and open" — so it contains the opposite of under the table, but also more. E.g., paying someone openly (i.e., not under the table) but fudging your payroll tax would not be above board. | |
| May 11, 2021 at 18:23 | comment | added | CCTO | Above board is exactly the antonym to "under the table". This really should be the accepted answer. | |
| May 11, 2021 at 14:52 | history | answered | Jack O'Flaherty | CC BY-SA 4.0 |