Lawtalk: The Unknown Stories Behind Familiar Legal Expressions
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.94 (686 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 030017246X |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 368 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-07-08 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
D. G. Peacock said A must-have for legal libraries -- and anyone who loves language. This book is meticulously researched and immensely enjoyable to read. I loved learning about such expressions as the "thin blue line" (actually linked to the British red coats) and "green card" (which isn't green--at least not now--and a great example of "Spanglish," or how words move back and forth between English and Spanish). This well-designed, easy-to-navigate volume would make a great holiday gift for any legal mind or aficionado of language.. M. Nelson said Fascinating read. If you like language history, this book is a lively read, and a quite engaging one too, not a dry listing of etymologies. While it should also be of interest to those in the legal profession, it focuses mainly on words and phrases of legal origin used in everyday life ("billable hour", "green card", etc.) rather than technical legal phrases, so non-lawyers shouldn't find it unnecessarily daunting. Many of the phrases have entertaining backstories that touch on a variety of historical incidents and accidents, . Thoughtfully researched and entertainingly presented The only thing that saved me on a packed 11 hour flight from NYC to Hawaii (with broken earphones and a sleeping girlfriend) was this book. Funny, insightful, completely repeatable (between naps my girlfriend got to hear the many "best ofs"), this book is terrific. As a lawyer, I've used or was familiar with virtually all of these phrases. Yet I had not before considered themes of the law in terms of color (blackmail, blue laws, green card, and white shoe), anatomy (Chancellor's foot, pound of flesh, or eye f
Garner, President, LawProse, Inc., Editor in Chief, Black's Law Dictionary. "Lawtalk combines enormous erudition with loads of levity-the result being a compulsively browsable book that will leave readers wordly-wise."—Bryan A
Seuss. .. . Law-related words and phrases abound in our everyday language, often without our being aware of their origins or their particular legal significance: boilerplate, jailbait, pound of flesh, rainmaker, the third degree. Those readers should be forewarned: upon finishing one entry, there is an irresistible temptation to turn to another, and yet another . Popular myths and misunderstandings are explored and exploded, and the entries are augmented with historical images and humorous sidebars.Lively and unexpected, Lawtalk will draw a diverse array of readers with its abundance of linguistic, legal, historical, and cultural information. This insightf