Shhh...

Hush money. How can it be called hush money if everyone knows someone paid a sum of dough to keep something quiet? It is an oxymoron. Someone didn't get their money's worth.

Hush money has been in the news a lot lately. And no more so than yesterday when a former president, Donald J. Trump, was arraigned in a Manhattan courtroom on 34 felony charges related to hush money paid to an adult film performer (she's not a star) and strip club dancer, Stormy Daniels, to keep their relationship quiet as the 2016 presidential race started.  Only newborns and those in a coma may not have heard about this.

I emailed Ben Zimmer of the Wall Street Journal suggesting he do a piece on the origins of the term "hush money." I read his weekly piece on word and phrase origins in the WSJ's weekend edition. If he did one already I might have missed it, or forgotten it, and apologize for a lame suggestion.

Nevertheless, although I have no ability to research words and phrase origins like he does, I'll still write about hush money. I just won't know where the term originated.

The Donald, as he is sometimes referred to in newspaper copy, has been facing the prospect of indictment on these charges for years. The newly elected Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg, has finally taken up the supposition that the Donald did something illegal, presented it to a grand jury over a period of weeks, and walked away with a 34 felony count indictment which hit The Donald and New York harder than Carlos Beltran taking a called third strike in a playoff game for the Mets in 2006, ending the series and advancing the St. Louis Cardinals to the World Series against the Detroit Tigers.

In addition to Stormy Daniels, The Donald is accused of paying hush money to the Playboy Playmate of the Year (1998), Karen McDougal, and a Trump Tower doorman to keep some things quiet. Mum's the word, until it isn't.

Anyone who knows anything about Manhattan doorman know they hold more secrets than the CIA building in Langley, Virginia. They may dress like Mexican generals, but their Christmas gratuities likely allow a lifestyle beyond that provided by union wages.

Did I ever pay anyone hush money? Not unless you consider the time I promised the kids a Happy Meal not to tell their mother that I put a significant amount of liquid dishwasher soap into the dishwasher, ran a cycle, and turned the kitchen into a bubble bath.

Come and get me. Am I going to need a lawyer, or two?

http://www.onofframp.blogspot.com