Origin of the word ‘blackmail’
To blackmail somebody is to extort money or something else of value from them by the threat of exposing information that will harm them in many ways. Blackmailing is a punishable offence.We all know that the word mail is used to talk about materials handled in a postal system.
Interestingly, the expression ‘blackmail’ has nothing to do with letters or the
postal system. So how did the word ‘blackmail’ originate? Well, here is the
story!!
The word blackmail comes
from the Scottish ‘mail’. In Scottish English this word used to mean ‘tax’ or
‘rent’.
In the olden days, the law and order situation in Scotland wasn’t very
good. It wasn’t good in other countries, too. Because of poor enforcement of
law, farmers living along the borders of Scotland suffered at the hands of
criminal gangs.
These gangs would rob them and get away with little punishment.
Poor farmers were incapable of fighting these looters. So they chose to pay
them off. They would make some payment in exchange for protection and immunity
from plunder.
In those days the usual
modes of payment were cattle, grains and copper coins. These were considered
black. And this system of exhorting money from poor farmers was called
‘blackmail’. It means ‘black tax’ or ‘black rent’. If a farmer chose to pay in
silver coins, then it was called ‘white mail’.
