Where does the word blackmail come from

The word comes from the freebooting clan chieftains who ran protection rackets against farmers in Scotland and northern England. The custom persisted until midc.

On the subject of blackmail , however, we may provide some information. 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? The word does indeed come from mail , but it is not quite the same word that serves as the basis for email. The taking of black-mail , is a kind of Concussion in our Law, and by black-mail is understood, the paying of money, or any gratuity to thieves, for their protection, and by our Law not only the takers but the payers of black-mail, are punishable as thieves and Robbers. Although blackmail was originally used to refer to something that was done to farmers who lived on or near the border of Scotland and England, it proved to be too useful a word to be bound by such geographic constraints, and soon came to be used in reference to money extracted in exchange for protection in other locales.

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? Both blackmailer and victim share the desire to keep information private. Blackmail is counterintuitive. In the s, banker Edwin Main Post and his wife Emily Post yes, of the etiquette books shocked New York when they disclosed their personal secrets rather than accede to the blackmail threat of a newspaper publisher. But if blackmail is fundamentally a question about control, then Edwin Post decided that telling on himself was better than giving that option to anyone else.

But knowing it does mean that when you are in bed tossing and turning in your insomnolence you can turn your attention to those other questions that bedevil you. 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, 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 secret they carry is bad enough for another to extort them! What does it mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the verb blackmail. Etymons: blackmail n. Sign in with library card. Sign in as administrator on Oxford Academic. Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into blackmail, v. Please include your email address if you are happy to be contacted about your feedback. OUP will not use this email address for any other purpose.

Where does the word blackmail come from

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.

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Intransitive sense, of people, "to come together" is from midc. Black flag , flown especially by pirates as a signal of no mercy, is from s. 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. Law portal. Contact Our Firm This form is encrypted and protected by attorney-client confidentiality. Leave a comment Cancel reply. Entries linking to blackmail black adj. Word History. Retrieved 18 July The Words of the Week - Mar. The person has committed the crime of blackmail, even though he separately has the legal right both to threaten to expose a crime and to request money from a person. Ngrams are probably unreliable. Word of the Day. My Book Joy. Tools Tools.

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.

English law portal For obsolete aspects see History of English criminal law table. Part of a two-week series on the pull of bad influences in our lives and in the culture. Attach another file if needed. Forgery Cheating the public revenue Uttering. However, I like to think that there are others who wanted to add a little flair to their evil-doing and made it less subtle for their victims. Culture and TV. The public, or rather that portion of it smitten with the California fever, should be extremely cautious about receiving such rumors, as I understand from a perfectly reliable source that one of the leading? Dolatowski Log in. 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. The ability to be anonymous encourages antisocial tendencies and the ability to spread fake news. Toggle limited content width. More to Explore pressure. In addition to restitution of whatever has been paid to you, possible penalties for extortion in Nevada can include:.