the.com/harassment
Death by a thousand jabs, each one small enough to deny in writing.
means Repeated, unwanted behavior intended to disturb, pressure, or wear someone down.
from From French 'harasser' (to tire out, vex), which likely traces back to 'harer,' meaning to set a dog on someone — an old hunting term for inciting a hound to attack. Some link it further to the Old French hunting cry 'hare!' used to urge dogs forward. Either way, the bones of the word are about being chased and worn down, which is exactly how it still feels.
- legal threshold
- usually requires a pattern, not one incident
- workplace coinage
- term entered US law via 1970s sex discrimination cases
- modern frontier
- cyberstalking laws didnt exist before the 2000s
- key distinction
- intent matters less than the effect on target