Blackball

To blackball someone means to ostracise or exclude them and derived this meaning from the late 18th century when it was common practice, typically at gentlemen’s clubs, to vote against a candidate by using a black ball. It only took one black ball to deny membership and the candidate would never know who had ‘blackballed’ him. The practice of casting votes using balls or shells is, however, thousands of years old and is mentioned in the chronicles of both ancient Greece and Rome. In fact, the word ballot derives from the Italian ballota which means little ball and the word ostracise derives from the Greek ostrakon meaning shell.