There are probably many lessons to be learned from the recent Presidential election, but one of them is surely the value of plain speaking. Yet American lawyers seem to love obfuscatory language, often choosing to use Latinisms that they themselves don’t understand in the apparent belief that Latin is the true language of the common law. ¶

In fact, however, this could hardly be farther from the truth. Latin had been a dead language for several centuries by the time that Henry II established in England what became the foundation of the common law. As I pointed out in a previous post, Henry spoke only Norman French, because he himself came from Normandy, in what is now northern France. The original language of the common law, therefore, became Norman French (sometimes termed Anglo-French because it came to be spoken more in England than in France). ¶

Of course, the plain-speaking in the Presidential election would have been all the better if it had also been accurate. But perhaps we lawyers can show the way by actually understanding the origins and meanings of the legal terms that we use every day. As the following table demonstrates, many of the most important have their roots in Norman French: ¶

Sources: Oxford Concise Dictionary of English Etymology, Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, and Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary. ¶

No doubt there are many other examples. If anyone feels like suggesting any, I’ll add them to the list. ¶