blackmailn. the threat might consist of physical injury to
the threatened person or to someone loved by
that person, or injury to a person's reputation.
In some cases the victim is told that an alleged
illegal act he or she had previously committed
will be exposed if the victim fails to comply with
the demand.
Although the crime of blackmail is generally synonymous with
extortion, some states distinguish the offenses by requiring that the
former be in writing.
Blackmail is punishable by a fine, imprisonment, or both.
Traced from 1552, mail is Middle English male "rent, tribute," from
Old English (pre-1100) mal "lawsuit, terms, bargaining, agreement,"
from Old North French mal "speech, agreement;" related to Old
English mæðel "meeting, council," mæl "speech", Gothic maþl
"meeting place." Derived from the practice of freebooting clan
chieftains who ran protection rackets against Scottish farmers.
Black is obviously from the evil of the practice. The term was
expanded in 1826 to any type of extortion and used as a verb
in 1880.
Have you personally ever suffered from the narcissistic and psychotic
behavior of being blackmailed? How did you cope? Did you cave or
did you hold out? How did you weather the attack?
info from etymonline and legal-dictionary
Interesting etymology of the "mail" part of the word-- had never thought about that.
ReplyDeleteThankfully, I've only had to deal with blackmail in reading Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, etc., never in real life.
No, but sometimes I wish I had, just so my life would be a tad more exciting... :o)
ReplyDeleteI'm first, I'm first........grinning.
ReplyDeleteGood morning Willow.....
What I have come to realise is that like any sort of mind game, blackmail only succeeds if both sides recognize there is a game afoot.
I'm not, I'm not.......grinning.....
ReplyDeleteVery interesting etymology. We as teenagers love "black-mailing" each other!
ReplyDeleteSreddy
Hello Willow,
ReplyDeleteFortunately, I haven't had to endure this activity either. It is a destructive word, far worse than the sum of it parts!
Yeah, it was a childhood blackmail. A buddy and I did something we weren't suppose to do - I really don't recall the details, nothing much, but I think it was an after school prank (5th grade). Any how, there was a guy who had no friends because he was a loutish bully and he saw us do whatever we did and he threatened to tell our parents. That did frighten us because my parents were good at dishing out physical punishment.
ReplyDeleteThe payoff was he wanted us to be his friends. It was totally warped... the guy was obnoxious and we would go to his house and stand around while he did bragging and other vile commentary. We never played ball or rode our bikes with him - just sat around and did nothing.
Thankfully, this grim scenario only lasted a few days because the bully wasn't having much fun lording himself over us.
Ha! I'm in the same category as John Hayes....only in fiction!
ReplyDeleteFortunately, I have never experienced Blackmail. Loved the opening graphic, and word origins.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame that we live in a world where we are so afraid of our mistakes that blackmail can happen. I think it happens far more than we read about it, subtly but existant, a way to control or influence - and it'a all predicated on the fact that most of us have faults and failings and mistakes in our lives and don't want to be "found out.". But what if we accepted our mistakes as part of becoming better? And accepted others mistakes the same way? What would that do to blackmail? Ah, but that is a dream I suppose, it's THAT foreign to our human nature.....
ReplyDeleteMy nose is clean...I didn't do it...honest...
ReplyDeleteWell, maybe once as a bribe to get even with my bratty lil' brother, you know, it was a game...sorta like Shirley...right!?
not really. however there are subtle forms of blackmail for example when yr kid brother says he'll tell mom it was you who broke the vase unless you give him your allowance for two weeks. not that this ever happened to me. maybe that's not so subtle either.
ReplyDeleteI love finding out the derivation of words and this was so interesting. I've never been blackmailed but if I were then I would have no hesitation in going to the police - (easy to say when nobody has anything on me though)
ReplyDeleteOh, dear. First the anger. Then, I look at your header and there's you with your camera about to 'pap' me. Then, blackmail. Dear, oh dear, is there any hidden meaning behind these posts? Something you want to tell us but are giving us only clues, so that we, mere mortals, find the truth by ourselves :-D? Oh, and did I mention the one about the ghost in you kitchen? Jeeves, pass me the salts, please! :-)
ReplyDeleteLovely post. I have always been intrigued by 'blackmail' and where it came from. It is one of those words that trigger off thoughts of pirates leaving dark envelopes on the captain's desk before mutiny takes place.
Well-researched post, as usual, I look forward to the one on government's surveillance :-)!
Greetings from London.
Thank goodness, never, willow - I always think it is the most insidious of crimes.
ReplyDeleteNo; unless you count Necky Becky threatening to sing in the house all day unless we let her have her own way!!
ReplyDeleteBlackmail .. almost always a precursor to murder most fowl ..
ReplyDeleteI suppose if you had been black mailed that you might not want to explain the details. It suggests that you might have done something really naughty. But yes, I have experienced a kind of black mail... There were a couple of importers that had a small dispute. It was a 'respect issue,' which is a very big deal in the dark underbelly of the world. One of the importers was arranging to have drugs put into the other's cargo. I found out about it while I was out drinking with the bad guy. Somehow, I was able to convince him that the punishment far outweighed the crime. I fictitiously conveyed sincere apologies on the behalf of the other importer and took care of their preceived debts. They never knew how close they came to being in a Nepalese prison. Over the years, I have done more than a few 'favors' for the bad guy because I allowed myself to become involved and I know what crossing him could mean. In exchange for favors, he has promised me a rather frightening fidelity.
ReplyDeleteEwe! I hate blackmailers! Luckily I have nothing to be blackmailed with except maybe a few fashion disasters that may have been photographed. The key is don't do anything that could get you blackmailed!
ReplyDeletemmmm..touchy word...it seems that many peddle in what i consider emotional blackmail...witholding their love and affection to get their way. Particularly in spouses, parents and children, both ways. Even friends do this to each other...all too common.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, I haven't experienced nothing similar. I had no idea about the origin of the word, it's very interesting!
ReplyDeleteHello Willow,
ReplyDeleteI agree with High DD,
Only in fiction!
no blackmail in my closet! i have enjoyed some good-natured bribing over the years, especially with my siblings. it was all in good fun!
ReplyDeleteso love the graphic at the top. did you make it? so cretaive!!!!!
Well, I have always felt that we've all been blackmailed by our mothers during our childhood, it's part of what they call education.
ReplyDeleteLuckily, I have created me own personal resistance techniques when confronted with blackmail, some call it stubbornness.
an interesting word choice this week, Willow - as interesting as the origins of the word itself ......
ReplyDeleteEgads! Willow,can't recall how many times I black-mailed my brother or sis( some-times it was good to be the eldest kid ). Mostly simple kid stuff( like not tattling to Pop about the cigarette-smoking in the woods )or getting into the liquor cabinet. things like that were worth a few weeks allowance :) 'Course, the old man found out sooner or later...and not from me!
ReplyDeletehi Willow,
ReplyDeleteNot so much a comment on "blackmail" but instead on your netflix queue where you have listed "No Where in Africa." It is an uplifting, beautiful film and one of my favorites of all time. But, unless there has been a dubbed version, it is a German flick (Nirgendwo in Africa) and there are subtitles. The subtitles dissolve as the story evolves....
Oh also I forgot... an interesting recent relevant story of blackmail. The young married BMW heiress (40 something) let go of her saxon upbringing, momentarily, and indulged in the wild side of life. With... a handsome con man, who vidioed their sex and then threatened to go public if she did not give him millions. I can't think of her name, but, with great courage, she went to the police and exposed this man who had also done the same to other women--who did not have the courage to ACCUSE. You can imagine what it cost her, to prevent the same thing happening to others! This was in the German news about a month ago.
ReplyDeleteLuckily, never had to deal with blackmail. But I know people who have been emotionally blackmailed, which is just as scary.
ReplyDelete...i have experience with being emotionally blackmailed.
ReplyDeleteand writing a check to make it stop would have been a gift.
xx
I have experienced emotional blackmail from various sources. Emotional blackmail is an insidious form of control whereby someone witholds something important to your psychological/emotional well-being in order to control your behavior. My mother could be really good at that type of blackmail at times.
ReplyDeleteCan't say that I have, but that said, plenty of photos have been taken of me that could potentially be used for blackmail, I'm sure. Good one!
ReplyDeleteAlways interesting when I come here. I am glad to say though, that I've never been blackmailed. So I've been spared that trauma in my life. Thank God.
ReplyDeleteLike Lynette, I've been emotionally blackmailed and it was definitely by my mother, who continued the practice until I married and she was confronted by my very nice husband. She never did it again. I didn't realize what stress it caused me until it stopped. Whew!
ReplyDeleteYes. I get blackmailed every year by the IRS and every month by the electric company.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, I am just too perfect to be blackmailed.
Morning Willow,
ReplyDeletelike some of your other commentors I thought of emotional blackmail and how insidious and damaging it can be.
Especially mothers who use it to control children because it establishes a norm for them to imitate.
Dick Francis novels almost always have an extremely unstable blackmailer character who threatens summary violence to the victim's loved ones. The hero always helps the victim figure how to get out of it, but often not before suffering from violence himself.
ReplyDeleteIn the Internet age, many people accidentally "blackmail" themselves, sacrificing their reputation by posting photos or info that comes back to bite them.
I love learning so much from you. I can't wait to hear more about the upcoming book. I imagine you and Betsy had a fun childhood and have many stories. You both are so creative and colorful. Spring is really on it's way.
ReplyDeleteHow about being bribed...does that count? And no, I didn't accept it!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that 35 people ahead of me actually experienced blackmail. If that were the case, we are doomed; human nature is retreating to pre-columbian sacrificial rites. Isn't this the game played behind one's back, and by the time we realize it, we are doomed?
ReplyDeleteVery nice!
ReplyDeleteMy blog: http://go-joke-time.blogspot.com ! Join Us!
Love the graphic at the top...also love that we have only read about this, not experienced it ourselves!
ReplyDeleteblessings,
kari & kijsa
My sister and I tried to blackmail our brother into sharing his after school snacks with us. We were on a diet and our mother was a tough taskmaster. Our brother got wise before long and threatened to turn the table on us. Our life of crime was over before it got a good start.
ReplyDeleteMy criminal law teacher at the University used to say that amongst criminals, blackmailers were the worst ones because even when they were in jail, they always tried to trick the very people who were supposed to help them (lawyers, family) so they could blackmail them into doing him favours (or worse)...
ReplyDeleteLuckily enough, I've never been the victim of such conduct.
My teacher's advice was to come out clean in all cases.
Oh, not so much on big scheme. But constantly on small scale. We are often faced with it daily in diluted forms. I try to live my life so that nothing sticks and I can tell the manipulators to stick it. Nice what if.
ReplyDeleteFortunately never had the experience of blackmail (never done anything interesting enough!) or been dressed in black mail either. Enjoyed this clever post.
ReplyDeleteInteresting you pointed out that one.Reminds me of some story.
ReplyDeleteVery cool word today, Willow.
ReplyDeleteI've experienced emotional blackmail many times, and have paid up big time in the form of codependence.
But I've never been blackmailed for money. See? There are things about having no money that actually work for me from time to time!
thank god no....
ReplyDeleteWhen a blackmailer tried to extort money from the first Duke of Wellington to cover up a disreputable aspect of his past, the duke's response was: "Publish, and be damned." He had enough confidence in himself not to be swayed by this threat to his good name. Sure enough, his reputation remained unsullied, and indeed he won respect for allowing the story to be known. He knew the blackmailer lives off fear, and if one shows no fear, a blackmailer is powerless.
ReplyDelete