the.com/reprisal
Revenge with a legal costume on, pretending it's justice instead of payback.
means An act of retaliation against another party for harm they caused, often dressed up as a justified response rather than simple vengeance.
from Traces back through French to the Medieval Latin 'reprisalia,' rooted in 'reprehendere' — to seize back or take hold of again. It first described the literal seizing of goods or hostages in retaliation for a wrong, especially between rival merchants or states, before settling into its broader modern sense of any retaliatory strike, military or personal.
- origin
- from medieval right to seize enemy goods
- logic
- you hurt me, so now we're even
- problem
- both sides always think they're owed one
- modern use
- fires employees for whistleblowing, legally forbidden