What's the difference between blackmail and extortion?

shu,

Why not ask a lawyer?

As I understand it, extortion is demanding money with menaces; if I were to hold a gun to your daughter's head and demand $1M or I'd shoot her, that would be extortion.

Blackmail is demanding money with threats of revealing something incriminating against you; if I were to ask for $1M or I'd tell Kalleh about your affair with your secretary that would be blackmail.

EDIT: Whoops! Kalleh, don't read this!

quote:

if I were to ask for $1M or I'd tell Kalleh about your affair with your secretary that would be blackmail.

Shu, it definitely wouldn't be worth $1M! Save the money for us, and we'll work it out!

Shu and I were reading the newspaper together, and I read their description of an "extortion" that took place in Chicago. The headline, though, read, "Builder Pleads Guilty to Hospital Blackmail." Since they seemed to find the 2 words to be synonyms, I asked Shu what the difference was...thus the question.

Here is what happened. According to Arnie's definition, it is "extortion" and the "blackmail" headline was wrong.

"The head of a suburban construction business admitted Monday that he delivered an ultimatum last year to officials of Edward Hospital in Naperville: Hire his firm or have their plans to construct a hospital in Plainfield rejected by a state oversight board."

Then..."On Monday, he pleaded guilty to one count of attempted extortion in connection with the Edward Hospital project."

Blackmail is a variety of extortion but not all extortion is blackmail. I'd agree that the headline used the word 'blackmail' wrongly.

From the OED Online:

quote:

extortion, n.
1. The action or practice of extorting or wresting anything, esp. money, from a person by force or by undue exercise of authority or power; an instance of this; an act of illegal exaction.

blackmail, n.
1. Hist. A tribute formerly exacted from farmers and small owners in the border counties of England and Scotland, and along the Highland border, by freebooting chiefs, in return for protection or immunity from plunder.

2. By extension: Any payment extorted by intimidation or pressure, or levied by unprincipled officials, critics, journalists, etc. upon those whom they have it in their power to help or injure. Now usu. a payment extorted by threats or pressure, esp. by threatening to reveal a discreditable secret; the action of extorting such a payment.

Tinman