Don't know about the Americans. I don't know if they have a phrase for false accounting I think they just call it business :-)(Americans please note thats a joke)
>Thanks for replying Nicholas!
>
>Do you know if these expresions are used by the british only or by the americans as well?
>
>Fernando
>
>>Right on both interpretations Fernando. Cooking the books is usually any sort of compnay fraud involving false accounting. Enron could be said to have cooked the books in a big way.
>>
>>Don't know about the band though
>>
>>>Hi,
>>>
>>>Last night I was watching a TV series (Inspector Morse - UK - excellent!) and at some point in a dialog came the expression: "he was burning midnight oil", that was translated (in the subtitles) to something like "working late at night".
>>>
>>>Later on came the expression: "cooking the books" that althougt wasn't translated I understood as manipulating the ledger of the company to false numbers.
>>>
>>>Is that correct?
>>>
>>>BTW there was (is) a band called "Midnight Oil", does their name have something to do with the first above?
>>>
>>>Regards,
>>>
>>>Fernando