This week’s theme
Words related to mail

This week’s words
snail mail
greenmail
postal
mailed fist
graymail

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(GRAY-mayl)

MEANING:

noun:	1. A defense tactic in an espionage trial where the accused threatens to reveal secrets to avoid prosecution.
	2. Email that the recipient no longer finds valuable even though it’s not spam. For example, a newsletter from a company where one has shopped.
verb tr.:	To compel the prosecution to drop charges by threatening to disclose sensitive information.

ETYMOLOGY:

Formed on the pattern of blackmail, utilizing “gray” to denote something that is indeterminate or falls into a “gray area”. The word mail here (as in blackmail) is from Middle English male (rent or tribute), from Old English mail (agreement, pay), from Old Norse mal (agreement). Earliest documented use: 1978.

USAGE:

“We plan to embarrass the hell out of them. We’re going to graymail them. Bring out operation info, stuff they don’t want out in the daylight.”
Joseph Finder; High Crimes; William Morrow; 1998.

“She was going through the graymail, trashing unwanted messages, of which we’d had a rash last night.”
Craig Johnson; Another Man’s Moccasins; Penguin; 2008.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: