What is the origin of "blackmail"?
(Talla Varun, Warrangal)
When you set up a new business, there are a number of things you have to worry about. One worry is people trying to extort money from you. It is very common for "antisocial elements" to take money from you in order to give you "protection". In the old days, farmers living along the Scottish border had to pay "freebooters" such money in order to be left in peace. The mail in the word "blackmail" has nothing to do with the post office or letters. It comes from the Scottish word "mail" meaning "rent" or "tax"; "blackmail" was the rent which individuals paid to gangs to ensure that they did not get robbed. Why "blackmail"? According to some scholars the rent that farmers paid was usually in the form of "black cattle". When the rent was paid in the form of silver, it was called "whitemail".
S. UPENDRAN
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