by Kevin Burton
Children utter phrases such as “cross my heart, hope to die” to self-administer a kind of playground oath. But it’s not binding.
Today our friends at Merriam-Webster bring us words dealing with what we say, or refuse to say, under a legal oath in a court of law.
But first, a word that sounds as if it should come from tennis, or badminton, but does not:
Racketeer – one who obtains money by an illegal enterprise usually involving intimidation.
A racketeer is someone who makes money through their involvement with the rackets. There are a number of distinct meanings and senses of racket; the racketeer one may mean either “a loud confused noise” or “a dishonest scheme for obtaining money.”
The etymology of this racket is unknown, and the word does not share an origin with the other kind, the thing you hit tennis balls and shuttlecocks with. That one came into English from Middle French, after a long and winding path; it is thought to have come from a modification of the Arabic word for “wrist,” rusgh.
Boodle – money paid or taken for votes or political favors bribe money
It has been said that bribe is an ugly word. We have no feelings on this matter, but do have the desire to assist those who would prefer an alternative. Boodle (which comes from the Dutch word boedel, meaning “estate, lot,” and also serves as the foundation for caboodle) has a softer ring to it. Furthermore, boodle can mean “a large amount of (non-bribe) money,” or “a collection or lot of people,” so it might be used with more innocent implications.
Suborn – to induce to commit perjury; also : to obtain (perjured testimony) from a witness
In addition to inducing perjury, suborn may have a broader meaning, such as “to induce secretly to do an unlawful thing.” The word, which comes to English from the Latin subornare (“to secretly furnish or equip”), has been making criminal defendants uncomfortable since the early 16th century. One who suborns is a suborner, and an act or instance of suborning is a subornation. The word is often used in strictly legal contexts, but may also be found used in a figurative manner.
Plead the Fifth – to refuse to answer questions in a court of law because the answers might be harmful to one or might show that one has committed a crime.
The phrase plead the Fifth (also take the Fifth), is frequently employed figuratively, simply meaning that one declines to answer a question which might prove in some way to be incriminating. The Fifth is the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which states that citizens of the U.S. cannot be required to give testimony that could be used against them in a court of law.
Although it may have had occasional use earlier, pleading the Fifth came into broad use during the McCarthy hearings, when it was invoked by a number of those who testified before the Senate.
Exaction – the levying or demanding of some benefit (such as a fee or gratuity) that is not lawfully or properly due : extortion.
The earliest sense of exaction was simply “the act or process of exacting,” and did not necessarily carry any meaning of illegality. In the early 16th century exaction had a rough spell, made a few poor life choices, and ended up also being nearly synonymous with extortion.
Tamper – to carry on underhand or improper negotiations (as by bribery).
Tamper is believed to come from the Middle French temprer (“to temper, mix, meddle”). One may tamper with things in a non-judicial manner (“to try foolish or dangerous experiments”), such as when someone tampers with the lock on their apartment house when they’ve lost their keys. One of the more common applications of tamper is in relation to a witness; we’ve been pairing these two words since the early 18th century.
Obstruction of justice – the act of willfully interfering with the process of justice and law especially by influencing, threatening, harming, or impeding a witness, potential witness, juror, or judicial or legal officer or by furnishing false information in or otherwise impeding an investigation or legal process
Obstruction of justice covers a wide range of potential misdeeds. Such charges are often brought against a person who is believed to have lied to investigators or prosecutors in criminal cases. Obstruction of justice charges (of both the criminal and non-criminal variety) have played a notable part in several high-profile political scandals over the years: the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives recommended this charge (along with two others) against President Nixon in 1974, and President Clinton was impeached and tried on this charge (along with perjury) in 1998.
Page 7 