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A poison pen letter (or poisoned pen letter[1]) is a letter or note containing unpleasant, abusive, or malicious statements or accusations about the recipient or a third party. It is usually sent anonymously, often by employing the ransom note effect to avoid exposing the author's handwriting.
When Edith Swann (played by Olivia Colman) and fellow residents begin to receive threatening letters full of unintentionally hilarious profanities, foul-mouthed Irish migrant Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley), is charged with the crime. The anonymous letters prompt a national uproar, and a trial ensues.
The phrase “poison-pen letter” is a common idiom used to describe a malicious or defamatory written message. It is often associated with anonymous letters that are intended to harm the reputation or relationships of the recipient.
Jan 8, 2024 · Poisoning was the form of murder most connected to women, and these letters were regarded as a form of social poisoning more often than not perpetrated by women. Designed to cause trouble, the letters were, in some ways, a continuation of neighborly over-the-fence gossip, defamation, and rancor.
Mar 10, 2020 · After five months of finger-pointing and recriminations, police in November 1923 arrested twenty-five year old Dorothy Myrtle Thurburn, daughter of artist Percy Cecil Thurburn and great-granddaughter of Roger Thurburn, who in the early Victorian era had been Her Britannic Majesty’s Consul in Egypt.
May 23, 2024 · Poison pen letters are nasty anonymous letters which are intended to upset the addressee. They differ from blackmail, which is intended to extract something, in that they are purely malicious. A poison pen letter can elicit anger, fear, and a general feeling of upset from the person who receives it, much to the delight of the author.
Sep 21, 2023 · Poison pen letters, denounced in 1928 by a leading criminologist as “cowardly, treacherous, vile things”, appear to have been fuelled by envy, leading judges often to wrongfoot themselves by...
Oct 12, 2024 · The meaning of POISON-PEN LETTER is a very harsh or critical letter written to someone and usually not signed.
Oct 13, 2024 · 13 October 2024. A parish council chairman believes he may know who is behind poison pen letters that have blighted his village. Correspondence, some of which has been seen by the BBC, was ...
Sep 3, 2023 · How poison-pen letters spread across Britain – and ruined lives. For centuries, anonymous messages have blighted our communities, alleged everything from untidiness to murder – and left the...
