What is the origin of blackmail?

smh.com.au May 17 2003

The "mail" in blackmail (at various times also spelt maill, male) is an old Scots word for rent. This was usually paid in what was often called white money, silver coins. It comes from Old Norse "mal", meaning an agreement, later a contract, and then the payment specified by the contract.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, chieftains in the Scottish Highlands and along the border between Scotland and England ran protection rackets in which they threatened farmers with pillage and worse if they didn't pay up. This amounted to an informal tax or extra rent and the farmers, with twisted humour, thought of it as the opposite of the legitimate white money, or white mail, that they paid. Black has for many centuries been associated with the dark side of human activities, hence blackmail. The term was extended in the 19th century to other ways of extorting money with menaces, and in particular to the threat of exposing a person's secrets.

Ian Blair Hamilton, Byron Bay

Why have the Dutch produced so many famous painters but hardly any composers or writers?

When Holland had its "Golden Age" in the 17th century, it was the burghers, and in particular the merchants, who amassed huge fortunes. While the wealthy aristocracy in other European countries (then a republic, Holland had no royal house) entertained their friends with their own court orchestra, the Dutch tried to impress their friends with works by the great masters (like Rembrandt) in their grand canal houses. Catholic churches (also the sponsors of music) were closed due to the Reformation, and the Dutch Reformed Church frowned upon large orchestras in churches. Anne Frank is probably the most famous Dutch writer, with more translations in other languages than any other book, apart from the Bible.

Johan de Ruiter, Surry Hills

I have noticed some Asian tourists giving the V-sign when having their photos taken. Why do they do this?

If you watch Japanese cartoons, you'll notice that the main characters tend to pose with a V-sign after they have accomplished their "missions". So V is more likely to stand for victory (or in this case, "I have made it here") rather than a sign of peace.

Adrian Lee, St Ives

It's predominantly Japanese tourists who display this for a photo. It symbolises victory. It's also a message of good fun or a good time. Generally, the former interpretation is for sporting team photos and the latter for holiday pix. I've observed this in Taiwan, but not so in Hong Kong.

Steven Katz, Gordon

Why is the abbreviation for number "No." and not "Nu."? "No." for number is a type of abbreviation called a contraction, meaning that you take out the middle of a word. In this case, the word is the Italian "numero", which means number. It was devised by Italian shipping clerks, who also contracted "ditto" and made do with that.

Torbjorn Lundmark, Manly

If you catalogued the Bible, would it be regarded as a work of fiction or non-fiction? Although the Bible contains material that some believe is fictional, it also contains historical information that has been verified as factual. On the basis of the latter it presumably would be catalogued as non-fiction.

David Gordon, Cranebrook

Is it cheaper to leave lights on if going in and out of a room, or to turn them on and off? The flick of the light switch completes the electrical circuit, after which point energy is being consumed. When using normal tungsten filament light bulbs, every second the light is on will lead to a more expensive electricity bill. In the case of fluorescent tubes, the energy consumption to electrically charge the gas in the tube (when the light flickers before starting up) is eight times greater than the general energy consumption of the same tube once started.

Assuming it takes a maximum of four seconds to start up a fluorescent light tube, it would only be cheaper to leave the light on if you were to be back in the room within 32 seconds - otherwise turning the light off as you exit the room would be the most cost-effective option.

Jason Carroll, Turramurra

Why do so many place names, especially countries, start and end with the letter A? Blame it on the Romans, the Latin language and the Renaissance. The ancient Romans, in their conquest of the then-known world, named many countries and towns/settlements with either masculine names, ending in "um" (such as Londinium and Belgium), or feminine names ending in "a" (Britannia, Tunisia, Libya, Syria, Romania, Bulgaria). But the latter seemed to be preferred.

The period of the European Renaissance, the 14th to 16th centuries, saw a strong swing to the much-admired standards of the Roman and Greek civilisations. The Renaissance also saw the emergence of European world exploration and settlement. So many of the new colonies and their cities were given stylised names with "a" endings (Australia, America, Canada, Alaska, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, India, Malaya and so on).

Jim Martyn, Mollymook

What is the difference between a government and a regime? The use of the regiment.

Michael Flatt, Byron Bay

A "free" press, or maybe Rupert Murdoch's personal support for your junta.

Timothy Aley, Federal

What's the difference between a government and a regime? Bail.

Conrad Mathias, Cooma

Any answers?

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