创造“潜规则”这一概念的吴思先生说：所谓的“潜规则”，便是“隐藏在正式规则之下、却在实际上支配着中国社会运行的规矩”。 　

什么是潜规则？就是不成文的见不得光的一些暗箱操作的规定和原则，它最早产生于人们的贪婪和私欲并且随着时代的前进不断发展壮大，滋生繁衍，如今已经无孔不入地渗入到社会上的各行各业中。

例句：

Unwritten or tacit rules are everywhere, and are observed to circumvent explicit rules for personal gains in officialdom. Finding a balance between such rules and the established laws and regulations has become a must for corrupt officials to get endorsement from higher authorities for what they have done on the one hand and reaping dirty gains on the other hand.

But, never has anyone delved so deep into the historical root of under-the-table conventions as Wu Si has done. His book on the subject entitled "Qian'guize" (Tacit Rules) elaborates on how such rules have had an impact on the perversity of dynastic officialdom in the past thousands of years. The book was first published in 2001 and immediately banned. Now it was reprinted.

Qian'guize, the Chinese term he coined for the concept of under-the-table rules has become extremely popular in the past decade. No one has to think twice before associating it with whatever ways he or she has to use to lubricate the channels for the things they want to get done. It is even used as a verb to describe how someone is ripped off by such rules. When we say an actress was qian'guized, it means that she had provided the director with "special service" for the particular role she wanted to play.