the.com/hush money
Payment for silence, priced just below the cost of the truth coming out.
means Money paid to someone to keep them from revealing embarrassing or incriminating information.
from A straightforward compound from 'hush' (to silence, itself likely echoic — a sound mimicking the shushing noise itself) plus 'money.' The term surfaces in English by the late 1600s/early 1700s, doing exactly what it says on the label — no hidden backstory needed, the phrase was built transparently to describe the transaction it names.
- legal status
- not illegal unless it hides a crime
- famous ledger
- often logged as legal fees
- timing tell
- usually paid right before an election or wedding
- real cost
- buys delay, not forgiveness