Origin
According to Max Vasmer, the origin of the word blat is the Yiddish blatt, meaning a "blank note" or a "list". However, according to both Vasmer and N. M. Shansky, blat may also have entered into Russian as the Polish loanword blat, a noun signifying "someone who provides an umbrella" or a "cover". The word became part of Imperial Russian criminal slang in the early 20th century, where it signified relatively minor criminal activity such as petty theft.
Blatnoy originally meant "one possessing the correct paperwork", which, in the corrupt officialdom of Imperial Russia and the Soviet Union indicated that the blatnoy was well connected. The word blatnoy came to indicate career criminals because they had a blatnoy or special status in the Russian criminal underworld. The use of the word to indicate association with the criminal underworld (e.g. "blatnoy language"/Fenya, "blatnoy behavior", "blatnoy outlook") is a relatively recent development and is technically incorrect, though it is increasingly prevalent.
The adverbial usage of the word is po blatu (по блату), meaning "by or via blat".
Read more about this topic: Blat (term)
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