Unless and until: Difference between revisions
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A cretinous expression that means simply “until”, because “until” ''implies'' “unless”. Inevitably couched as a [[double negative]], you may see, from the nib of a {{lawyer|fastidious wordsmith}}: | A cretinous expression that means simply “until”, because “until” ''implies'' “unless”. Inevitably couched as a [[double negative]], you may see, from the nib of a {{lawyer|fastidious wordsmith}}: | ||
“''Party A [[shall]] not be [[obligated]] to do any such thing [[unless and until]] state of affairs X [[shall have | “''Party A [[shall]] not be [[obligated]] to do any such thing [[unless and until]] state of affairs X [[shall have]] occurred.” | ||
*“[[Until]] X” means “[[at any time]] up to the point at which X happens”. | *“[[Until]] X” means “[[at any time]] up to the point at which X happens”. | ||
Revision as of 08:59, 29 March 2018
A cretinous expression that means simply “until”, because “until” implies “unless”. Inevitably couched as a double negative, you may see, from the nib of a fastidious wordsmith:
“Party A shall not be obligated to do any such thing unless and until state of affairs X shall have occurred.”
- “Until X” means “at any time up to the point at which X happens”.
- “Unless X” means “except if X has happened”.
At the point in time at which X happens, then X must have happened. Q.E.D.
To put it in a way which noted legal commentator Professor Leonard Kravitz[1] might recognise:
“It ain’t happened ’til it’s happened.”
But don’t let that stream of irresistible logic stop you flannelling away to your heart’s content.
Plain English Anatomy™ Noun | Verb | Adjective | Adverb | Preposition | Conjunction | Latin | Germany | Flannel | Legal triplicate | Nominalisation | Murder your darlings
- ↑ Learned author of the celebrated monograph “It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over”.