Where does the word blackmail come from

This is one of those words where I wonder what degree of literal it ever accomplished. Was it at some point actually black? And the shame of receiving one, for who would be blackmailed if they were a holy and upstanding citizen?

The word comes from the freebooting clan chieftains who ran protection rackets against farmers in Scotland and northern England. The custom persisted until midc. Black from the evil of the practice. The sense expanded by to mean any extortion by means of intimidation, especially by threat of exposure or scandal. Compare silver mail "rent paid in money" s ; buttock-mail Scottish, s "fine imposed for fornication. Related: Blackmailed ; blackmailing. The same root produced Middle English blake "pale," from Old English blac "bright, shining, glittering, pale;" the connecting notions being, perhaps, "fire" bright and "burned" dark , or perhaps "absence of color.

Where does the word blackmail come from

Part of a two-week series on the pull of bad influences in our lives and in the culture. Nine letters to connote all the dirtiness and manipulation that comes with the threat of disclosure. Confidential missives that threaten to enter the wrong hands? In daytime soaps and murder mysteries, blackmail regularly happens through the transfer of mail. The first textual account of black-maill appears in a Scottish document where serial looter, one Adam Scot, ended his career with a beheading. While we may no longer think of blackmail in terms of material objects of exchange, the initial meaning of blackmail actually stays pretty close to contemporary understandings of the act. As a narrative, however, modern blackmail has evolved. The outcome remained, more or less, the same. By comparison, the crimes and consequences of 19th-century blackmail were vastly more sophisticated. One example: losing your dignity. If the whole point of blackmail is to control your victim without leaving any trace of doing so, then how does one research truly successful acts of blackmail?

Trends of blackmail.

Posted on September 20, As originally used, mail probably referred to rent paid to a landlord. It may derive from the ancient association between the color black and evil deeds. Or it could simply serve as a contrast to white mail — to distinguish rent paid in goods or services from rent paid with cash. Whatever its origins, by the 16th century, blackmail had come to refer to protection money paid by farmers and other tenants on the English-Scottish border.

Claim: The word "blackmail" came about because it referenced letters of extortion sent via mail. Origins: "Blackmail," a word for the extortion of money or other considerations to forestall the making public of injurious revelations or accusations, derives not from the intuitively obvious source of relating to letters dispatched by those looking to make a buck off their knowledge of the missteps of others. The "mail" in "blackmail" has nothing to do with missives delivered by the postal service nor does it have anything to do, as claimed in one outlandish theory, with freelance knights gone brigand whose chain mail turned to black in concert with their dark deeds. Blackmail instead began its linguistic career as a descriptor for the process of paying off those who would otherwise inflict physical harm i. Its "mail" portion derives from the Old Norse word "mal," meaning "agreement," which subsequently expanded in Old and Middle English to encompass payments made pursuant to bargains struck between two or more parties and then to payments in general. The word did not shift to its current meaning of a bribe tendered in exchange for silence about embarrassing personal matters until around

Where does the word blackmail come from

Add to word list Add to word list. C2 the act of getting money from people or forcing them to do something by threatening to tell a secret of theirs or to harm them:. If you are in a position of authority , any weakness leaves you open to blackmail. I don't believe she would ever stoop to bribery or blackmail. They were found guilty of blackmail and sent to prison. His secret financial activities made him vulnerable to blackmail. Undoubtedly, blackmail is a very serious offence. They were villains who resorted to threats and blackmail to get what they wanted. Idiom emotional blackmail.

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He notes that the practice was common in the Scottish Highlands as well as the Borders. Word of the Day. All In The Family. Okay, well… unfortunately the first part of the word is not what I had hoped. Contents move to sidebar hide. In other words, blackmail. Not all types are listed here. A dictionary of Lowland Scotch, with an introductory chapter on the poetry, humour, and literary history of the Scottish language and an appendix of Scottish proverbs. Did it come from an arcane custom of sending a threatening letter in a black-tinged envelope, in order to indicate to the addressee that woeful betidings awaited them if they did not comport with the instructions of the letter? Retrieved 19 June Blackmail is an act of coercion using a threat. Contact Our Firm This form is encrypted and protected by attorney-client confidentiality. As of the 19th century, however, the word had expanded to mean payment extorted by intimidation or pressure or by unprincipled officials and journalists with the power to help or hurt other. PC makes it illegal to use force or threats to compel someone give you money or other property in order not to: Accuse that person of a crime, Reveal a secret about that person, or Expose that person or a family member to embarrassment or disgrace.

There are three meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun blackmail , one of which is labelled obsolete. Etymons: black adj.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. In the United States, blackmail is generally defined as a crime of information, involving a threat to do something that would cause a person to suffer embarrassment or financial loss. Prentice Hall. Tools Tools. This is one of those words where I wonder what degree of literal it ever accomplished. Take the quiz. Related: Blackmailed ; blackmailing. Blackmail Greenmail Graymail Pain compliance. Law portal. Article Talk.