"拖數"一詞，如何英譯？How to translate the Cantonese expression...

有事請教:

問"拖數"一詞，如何英譯？


(the following is culled from another blog of mine:)

... thank you  <Ah_Kwan>,

good question!  i'd like to know too.

i'm afraid your confidence in my so-called "command" of the english language is not justified.

anyway, i'm not aware there is an exact english equivalent of the cantonese expression (廣東佬俚俗言) "拖數".

it is also important to look at the actual context  in which the term "拖數"  appears.

having said that, i suppose "拖數" just generally means "late in payment".
in other contexts, it may well mean:
1. the amount in arrears.
2. an I O U (I Owe You).
3. the amount owed to a credit/charge account (or credit card etc.) ...

'Census' Conclusion from the net:

< "drag out a payment" is close enough to what a native English     speaker would say to mean "拖數". >


some useful answers suggested by e-readers:

無求劍客 - 
1.  slow paying (They are slow paying clients/customers)

2.  delayed payment (A customer is trying to delay payment)

          ('Slow paying' and 'delaying payment' are a deliberate action on the debtor's part.) 

3.   behind in payment

4.   in arrears
         ("behind in payment" and "in arrears" refer to the status of the account. The arrears               could have been an oversight instead of a deliberate act 拖數。)
5.  default

     ( "default" refers to a breach of payment terms beyond 拖數.)

           另外有有一句是會計税務的名言可供大家分享：

      'A penny tax delayed is a penny saved'.

羨魚 -

6.  dragging out a payment 


龍葵 - 

7.  payment default

亞難 - 

8.  delinquent payment
     ("Tom failed to make his delinquent payment".)
 9.  late payment

Liberphile - 

10.  I think Frank's suggestion "dragging out a payment" is close enough to what a native English speaker would say to mean "拖數" .  In the construction industry,  "拖數" is all too common, as observed by this blogger:

 You Bust Your Butt – Then They Drag Out Payment
http://blog.tempestcompany.com/2011/10/19/you-bust-your-butt-%E2%80%93-then-they-drag-out-payment/

南蠻子 -

11. 「拖數且未還. 但實際上, 如果債仔話「拖住先、有拖無欠」, 債主自然明白,肉包子打狗, 一去不復還.「拖數」點止 late and slow 咁簡單, 無乃 river of no return!