blackmail: 敲诈

下面这则新闻不大光彩，给新闻出版行业抹黑了：《中国食品质量报》、《中华工商时报》等4家报社的个别记者因涉嫌以新闻报道为名向基层单位和群众敲诈财物，已于日前被捕。

请看《中国日报》相关报道：Four Chinese journalists have been arrested for allegedly blackmailing² companies and citizens. The suspects, who have also been fired from their posts, worked at correspondent offices for four national newspapers based in Beijing.

报道中的blackmail与extort互为近义词，可以解释为：“敲诈；勒索”。

Blackmail原指“进贡之物”，指早期生活于苏格兰边境的居民为防止海盗抢劫，向有影响力的酋长们进贡的“财物”。随着时间的推移，“贡品”开始慢慢演变为“勒索之物”或“勒索”。举个例子：He tried to use the sexual scandal to blackmail¹ the mayor.（他想利用性丑闻来敲诈市长。）

另外，顺便提一个与black相互搭配的词组--black sheep，指我们常说的“败家子”。