To warn away thieves, medieval scribes sometimes added a written curse to the colophon of a precious book. Curses were once considered such powerful deterrents that they were sometimes added to Anglo-Saxon legal documents. This is part of a complete...
A listener who works with computers asked about the difference between premise and premises, especially when it comes to the idea of on- or off-premises computing. Going back to the 1600’s, the term premises has meant a “location” or “site,” but...
What’s the past tense of plead? Is it pleaded or pled? Within the legal profession, pleaded is preferred. But in our common vernacular, we tend to use the less traditional pled. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Past Tense of Plead”...
Need a Scrabble word with q or z? Grant shares some of his favorite legal Scrabble words: qi (the circulating life force in Chinese philosophy), qat (a leaf chewed in some cultures for stimulating effects), and za (a shortening of the word “pizza”)...
The story behind the word ignoramus is big fun. It involves a bumbling lawyer, a six-hour farce from the 17th century, and a Latin legal term. See? Big fun. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Origin of Ignoramus” Hello, you have A...
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...
