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Singulars and plurals: Difference between revisions
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To your correspondent, none. It is a whoreson zed; an unnecessary letter. This is throat-clearing text which, once in, benefits from the loving embrace of the [[anal paradox]], but serves no purpose beyond the [[Mediocre lawyer|mediocre attorney’s]] noble pursuit of prolixity. No lawyer will ever object to it, but — and ''because'' — it plays no role in unravelling the practical meaning of the legal {{t|contract}}, bar the obvious ones, where a singular does ''not'' include the plural — where a fellow is acquiring a solitary sausage from a nasty café, for very good example — and it would be a nonsense. | To your correspondent, none. It is a whoreson zed; an unnecessary letter. This is throat-clearing text which, once in, benefits from the loving embrace of the [[anal paradox]], but serves no purpose beyond the [[Mediocre lawyer|mediocre attorney’s]] noble pursuit of prolixity. No lawyer will ever object to it, but — and ''because'' — it plays no role in unravelling the practical meaning of the legal {{t|contract}}, bar the obvious ones, where a singular does ''not'' include the plural — where a fellow is acquiring a solitary sausage from a nasty café, for very good example — and it would be a nonsense. | ||
Can you imagine standing up in court and learnedly submitting that a [[plural]] did not include the [[singular]]? | Can you imagine standing up in court and learnedly submitting that a [[plural]] did not include the [[singular]]? The [[JC]] addressed this thought experiment by thumbing the pages of the {{jclr}} until he found the following testy exchange between {{jerrold}} and {{cocklecarrot}}, knee-deep, as they usually were, in bitter [[litigation]]. | ||
{{court scene|II|iv|stares morosely at his brogues, silently cursing the wasted shoe-polish in those nasty little holes|rises briskly, causing his chair to scrape flatulently on the parquet floor. The Lord Justice raises an eyebrow. Sir Jerrold smiles thinly and rustles his briefs}} | {{court scene|II|iv|stares morosely at his brogues, silently cursing the wasted shoe-polish in those nasty little holes|rises briskly, causing his chair to scrape flatulently on the parquet floor. The Lord Justice raises an eyebrow. Sir Jerrold smiles thinly and rustles his briefs}} | ||