Hush money.

If we had to take a shot every time we've heard that term over the last couple of weeks, we'd be long gone. If you're one of the few people that still tolerate watching the 60+ minutes of depressing and anger-inducing stories that the news has become, it's a good chunk of what's been talked about.

Giorgio Trovato / Kristina Flour
Giorgio Trovato / Kristina Flour
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What is hush money?

It doesn't exactly take a rocket scientist to figure out what hush money is. Unofficially, it's money you're given to you'll shut the heck up about something and not throw someone under the bus.

According to an actual, legitimate source though -- the Merriam-Webster Dictionary -- the term hush money is:

Money paid so that someone will keep information secret; money that a person pays someone to hush something up.

(The irony of the reason hush money is being talked about so much lately -- a reason we won't get into in this article because who wants to trigger another annoying headache by more political drama -- the sentence example in given in the Dictionary definition?

He's accused of paying her hush money to keep their affair secret.)

Alexander Mils
Alexander Mils
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Is hush money illegal?

Basically (and very unofficially), since you're paying money for someone to keep their mouth shut, hush money is essentially a bribe. But does that make it illegal?

According to VERIFY, there's really no law against hush money necessarily in the terms of paying someone to keep information quiet. But if there are threats made along with the hush money, that becomes extortion and that's a no-no.

But all that said, what would Mainers do if they had some "hot, juicy goss" that someone flipped them a couple extra bucks to keep quiet?

Here's What Mainers Say They Would Spend Hush Money On

Who knew people would be so generous with their bribery cash?

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