Part and parcel, indicating an integral component, is one of many legal doublets in English consisting of two words that mean essentially the same thing. Others include law and order, cease and desist, will and testament, sole and exclusive. There...
Is it cool for parents to use their children’s slang? What’s wrong with the term illegal alien? Grant and Martha discuss possible alternatives. Yehudi refers to the mysterious character who holds up strapless dresses, turns the light on in the...
excessing n.— «At the end of the school year, a committee led by one of Warley’s alleged protégés met to discuss moving some of its employees to other schools—a process called “excessing’ —because J.O. Wilson was over its budget.» —“High Court...
Romanette n.— Note: A thorough discussion of this word can be found at the Volokh Conspiracy blog. «One bright spot in the colloquy came during Assistant to the Solicitor General Nicole Saharsky’s defense of an expansive view of the law. In...
filler n.— «The man was a “filler” in a photo lineup of six black men. A filler is someone who is not a suspect, but whose photo is included because the filler fits the general description of a suspect who was in the photo lineup. There were six...
magic-wand bill n.— «This is the kind of bill that is often called a magic-wand bill—something that’s one thing, is something else just because we say it is.…Any kind of laws that disregard the reality of the situation is worrisome. It’s basically...
