Category: Queen’s English / Latin Lovers

What would lawyers do if they couldn’t argue? Indeed, argument is a critical part of many court proceedings, and done properly, serves to bring competing legal theories or factual disputes into sharp relief.Perhaps the most persuasive form of argument is the one known as reductio… Continue reading →

De Minimis non curat lex – literally, the law does not care for or take notice of very small or trifling matters. This is one of the oldest concepts in the law – that immaterial discrepancies or disputes will not be allowed to interfere with… Continue reading →

We hear it all the time (a teacher to his class): “Everyone should take their gloves with them because it is cold.” The rule is simple and easy to understand; application, however is another kettle of fish! Every pronoun makes reference to an express or… Continue reading →

It may be the most abused verb of them all: to lie (recline). We hear people order their dogs to “lay down”; or “I am laying on the couch”; or “yesterday, I laid down for a ten minute nap”. All wrong!The dog should lie down,… Continue reading →

If you have ever been uncertain regarding the capitalization of titles, the following rules may assist: (a)  Do not capitalize doctor, madam (or madame), sir, or similar names unless they occur before a proper name. We say, “the doctor will be unable to see you”;… Continue reading →

The parenthesis is often used to enclose incidental explanatory matters in a sentence.  Normally the sentence is complete without the information in parenthesis which is inserted to add color or explanation but contains information not vital to the meaning of the sentence.  Have you ever… Continue reading →

The term “bona fide” crops up throughout the legal profession, and most of us probably have some sense of what the term means.  However, more often than not, the term “bona fide” is used improperly or ambiguously.    Literally, bona fide means simply “good faith.“ … Continue reading →

   We have but a nanosecond to decide whether to use who or whom in conversation.  From “A Grammar Book For You and I – – Oops Me” (a very comprehensive, not too ponderous, guide, incidentally) here is a useful device (the book calls it… Continue reading →

The term “in pari delicto” connotes a doctrine invoked by the courts to deny recovery where it is shown that a plaintiff is equally guilty or responsible for his injury with the defendant.   Literally meaning “in equal fault”, the courts rely on this principle to… Continue reading →

Writers like to add spice to their texts by sprinkling them with metaphors, analogies, and similes; well-conceived, they can add color and sometimes make a concept more-easily grasped. (Churchill’s Iron Curtain and Eisenhower’s military/industrial complex are two brilliant and enduring illustrations.) They can however be… Continue reading →