The term "bonus" has taken on a certain connotation on Wall Street, and that has the top firms searching for euphemisms. Reuters took a look at some Goldman Sachs' (GS) filings recently and noted that the term "discretionary bonuses" has been replaced with "discretionary compensation." One consultancy has been advising clients to likewise banish the word "bonus" and use "incentives" instead.

Not that this is really going to fool anyone. The image and PR issues go way beyond this. It's almost funny to think that this will have an impact but it certainly highlights the sensitivity over pay issues. What would you use instead? "Total compensation," "total remuneration," "salary and other compensation"?   

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- here's the article

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