greymailgraymailn.

Brit.

/ˈɡreɪmeɪl/, U.S.

/ˈɡreɪˌmeɪl/

Forms: see grey adj. and n. and mail n.¹

Origin: A variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: blackmail n.

Etymology: Punning alteration of blackmail n., after grey adj.

1. A mild form of blackmail without demands for money; exercise of power over a person through possession of compromising information.

ΚΠ

1927 O. Sitwell & S. Sitwell All at Sea ix. 38 Such a journalist is, therefore, forced to be rude, silly and impudent to someone, and this offers a wonderful opportunity for ‘greymail’,—that sinister, half-caste offspring of blackmail and white-feather: of hinting what he ought not to know .

1964 Newsweek 24 Aug. 32 Political blackmail is becoming..a commonplace... Perhaps there should be gradations of the term..‘white–mail’ and ‘graymail’, for starters.

1969 N.Y. Times 6 Apr. 72 Graymail is then: I will do something bad to you if you do something bad to me.

2010 J. L. Locke Eavesdropping vi. 115 In a typical case of graymail, a person surprises a friend or associate in an embarrassing act, or is found to have learned something that he is not supposed to know.

2. U.S. Law. The threat of revealing government secrets, made by an accused party (esp. in cases of espionage) as a strategy to avoid prosecution.

ΘΚΠ

society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > pleading > [noun] > threat to expose government secrets

greymail1978

1978 Los Angeles Times 11 Oct. 10 Defendants were often able to avoid prosecution by demanding that the government release secret information concerning their cases, a procedure the committee called ‘graymail’, a legal form of blackmail.

1978 Washington Post 1 Nov. a14/2 A recent study by the Senate Intelligence Committee recommended substantial changes in court procedure to cope with this problem (as well as others that arise in ‘graymail’ cases) by permitting wider use of secret hearings.

1985 N.Y. Times 1 Apr. a21/1 The indictment was originally blocked because the department wanted to be sure that no ‘greymail’—threats to expose national secrets—would be used in the defense.

2011 Wall St. Jrnl. 18 Jan. a3 The government says the contractors' position could expose officials to ‘graymail’—lawsuits that force the government to pay up or endanger national security.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	greymail
释义	greymailgraymailn. Brit. /ˈɡreɪmeɪl/, U.S. /ˈɡreɪˌmeɪl/ Forms: see grey adj. and n. and mail n.¹ Origin: A variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: blackmail n. Etymology: Punning alteration of blackmail n., after grey adj. 1. A mild form of blackmail without demands for money; exercise of power over a person through possession of compromising information. ΚΠ 1927 O. Sitwell & S. Sitwell All at Sea ix. 38 Such a journalist is, therefore, forced to be rude, silly and impudent to someone, and this offers a wonderful opportunity for ‘greymail’,—that sinister, half-caste offspring of blackmail and white-feather: of hinting what he ought not to know . 1964 Newsweek 24 Aug. 32 Political blackmail is becoming..a commonplace... Perhaps there should be gradations of the term..‘white–mail’ and ‘graymail’, for starters. 1969 N.Y. Times 6 Apr. 72 Graymail is then: I will do something bad to you if you do something bad to me. 2010 J. L. Locke Eavesdropping vi. 115 In a typical case of graymail, a person surprises a friend or associate in an embarrassing act, or is found to have learned something that he is not supposed to know. 2. U.S. Law. The threat of revealing government secrets, made by an accused party (esp. in cases of espionage) as a strategy to avoid prosecution. ΘΚΠ society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > pleading > [noun] > threat to expose government secrets greymail1978 1978 Los Angeles Times 11 Oct. 10 Defendants were often able to avoid prosecution by demanding that the government release secret information concerning their cases, a procedure the committee called ‘graymail’, a legal form of blackmail. 1978 Washington Post 1 Nov. a14/2 A recent study by the Senate Intelligence Committee recommended substantial changes in court procedure to cope with this problem (as well as others that arise in ‘graymail’ cases) by permitting wider use of secret hearings. 1985 N.Y. Times 1 Apr. a21/1 The indictment was originally blocked because the department wanted to be sure that no ‘greymail’—threats to expose national secrets—would be used in the defense. 2011 Wall St. Jrnl. 18 Jan. a3 The government says the contractors' position could expose officials to ‘graymail’—lawsuits that force the government to pay up or endanger national security. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.1927
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