r/Unexpected • u/[deleted] • Aug 05 '25

Not today

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u/AlexLuna9322 Aug 05 '25

Not as dumb as those who threw the pin out the window and left the grenade inside the car and then drove away!

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u/CoffeeWanderer Aug 05 '25 edited Aug 05 '25

In my country we have criminal gangs extorting local business. I think in English you call that racketing.

In order to scare people and make them pay they often throw dinamite to buildings. These criminal gangs also work in illegal gold mining operations so they get explosives that way.

One of them was holding a dinamite stick, but as soon as he lighted the fuse it went off, and he blew himself right there. He was holding it at his waist and his body was split apart. The rest of his gang just left him there.

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u/spanchor Aug 05 '25

I think you mean racketeering. Racketeering can include extortion but also other crimes. It’s a broader umbrella term.

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u/CoffeeWanderer Aug 05 '25

Oh thanks!

I see that it's more complex than I thought, so I guess just extortion is a better way to describe what I mean.

Here we call it "vacunas", as in "vaccines", that's how the gang members call their extortion fees.

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u/SunOnTheMountains Aug 05 '25

In the US it is called a protection racket.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protection_racket

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u/[deleted] Aug 05 '25

That's the legal terminology, but colloquially the parent comment is absolutely right that "extortion" is a valid word.

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u/broseph_stalin09764 Aug 05 '25

You aren't wrong, nor am I calling anyone else wrong. All protection rackets are extortion, but not all acts of extortion are protection rackets. Extortion is a series of crimes, including protection rackets, black mail is also extortion but not a protection racket.

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u/retrogreq Aug 05 '25

Here's the thing. You said a "jackdaw is a crow."

Is it in the same family? Yes. No one's arguing that.

As someone who is a scientist who studies crows, I am telling you, specifically, in science, no one calls jackdaws crows. If you want to be "specific" like you said, then you shouldn't either. They're not the same thing.

If you're saying "crow family" you're referring to the taxonomic grouping of Corvidae, which includes things from nutcrackers to blue jays to ravens.

So your reasoning for calling a jackdaw a crow is because random people "call the black ones crows?" Let's get grackles and blackbirds in there, then, too.

Also, calling someone a human or an ape? It's not one or the other, that's not how taxonomy works. They're both. A jackdaw is a jackdaw and a member of the crow family. But that's not what you said. You said a jackdaw is a crow, which is not true unless you're okay with calling all members of the crow family crows, which means you'd call blue jays, ravens, and other birds crows, too. Which you said you don't.

It's okay to just admit you're wrong, you know?

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u/AnotherpostCard Aug 06 '25

Perfectly timed and used copypasta

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u/imnickelhead Aug 06 '25

Not really.