|
|
|
| Authored by: xtifr on Tuesday, August 21 2012 @ 03:16 AM EDT |
Everyday English is ambiguous. Words have multiple meanings, and the meanings
drift at varying rates. I'd rather have a more precisely defined,
semi-artificial language used to define the law than the quicksand of everyday
English.
Of course, I may have a tolerance for it because I work with precisely-defined
artificial languages every day in my job as a programmer. The idea of trying to
instruct a computer using everyday English as she be spoke gives me the
heebie-jeebies. :)
---
Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards, for it makes them soggy and hard to
light.[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
|
| |
| Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, August 21 2012 @ 03:29 AM EDT |
To be fair, this isn't a problem of legalese in particular. Every field of study
has its own specialised language; typesetters talk of kerning, mathematicians
talk of imaginary numbers, electricians talk of three-phase power, geologists
talk of igneous inclusions, programmers talk of writing in Java (and don't mean
the country or the coffee).
For every field of study, there's some concept that only turns up in that field
of study; or some term that needs a precise meaning shaded slightly differently
to the most similar common English word. The natural consequence of this is
jargon; specialised words that are only comprehensible to someone who knows
enough about the field in question to pick up on the nuances.[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
|
- legalese - Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, August 21 2012 @ 04:38 AM EDT
- precisely - Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, August 21 2012 @ 09:31 AM EDT
- legalese - Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, August 21 2012 @ 04:42 AM EDT
| |
| Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, August 21 2012 @ 03:53 AM EDT |
"Legalese" needs to express specialised concepts in precise terms and
so needs certain specialised language.
Most specialised fields of knowledge do the same. Mathematics, engineering,
psychology, computer science all have their own specialised vocabularies.
Where the difference lies in "legalese" is that it has such a direct
bearing on how we live our everyday lives, but since the people using it most
are the people who know the specialised forms, we still get stuck with the
complex language written to be understood by experts.[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
|
| |
| Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, August 21 2012 @ 04:03 AM EDT |
<blockquote>Laws must be written in a language people understand.
Otherwise they are
just a tool for manipulation</blockquote>
Yes, the law is a tool, for manipulation, of situations deemed unjust by a
party, into a situation deemed consistent with the aspirations of the state
issuing and backing those laws.
As a tool, it sometimes has outcomes other than that intended by it's user. Bad
craftsmen and all that.[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
|
|
|
|
|
