Category: Queen’s English / Latin Lovers

Lawyers are often criticized for redundantly repeating themselves.  (That last sentence is an illustration.)  Some of these repetitive word formulas are deeply engrained in the law; and although they may be of no value now, they did serve a historical purpose.  As examples, if you… Continue reading →

Trial judges and juries are often faced with having to make judgments about the credibility of a witness’s testimony.  There are certain rules, however, which make this task a bit simpler. Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus is a term which literally means “false in… Continue reading →

What happens if you provide goods or services for someone without a clear agreement on the precise terms of the arrangement?  Most of the time you would be unable to collect if you cannot prove the existence of a contract, either written or oral.  However,… Continue reading →

The verbs to lie (as in recline) and to lay are vexatious in their grammatical challenges.  It is improper to say “I am going to lay down” or “Yesterday he laid on the hammock.”; and yet it seems that more often than not in ordinary… Continue reading →

When to use the pronouns which and that to commence a clause is a challenge to many, and their misplacements are common. A clause can be either independent (“I went to the store” – – which is a complete thought) or dependent (“When you arrive…”)… Continue reading →

lan Greenspan, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve, was quoted regarding the Consumer Price Index, “I can’t say with great confidence, but I can say that what data we have does not suggest that the July rise will not be repeated in the month of… Continue reading →

  One of the more common Latin phrases to appear in judicial opinions is the phrase sine qua non.  Literally, the phrase means “without which is nothing.” The practical definition of sine qua non is a thing or condition which is an essential or indispensable… Continue reading →

Certain adjectives express conditions that are beyond improvement; that is, the words express perfection and cannot be improved upon, though sometimes we feel compelled to embellish them unnecessarily.  (I pause here to acknowledge that one of the world’s most important documents commences, “In order to… Continue reading →

Old words with new meanings have a way of creeping into our consciousness.Some years ago when I heard a presidential assistant say of a cabinet appointee whose checkered past had become an embarrassment to the President, “We just didn’t vet him sufficiently,” I only vaguely… Continue reading →