Council

A council is a municipal body where mediocre people make bad decisions about local affairs.

“Council” comes from concilium, the Latin word for an assembly or convocation of clever people: con- (‘together’) + calare (‘to summon’).

A council is not, ever, a legal adviser: not even a mediocre one. That fellow is your counsel. This also comes from Latin: consilium (“consultation, advice”), and the verb consulere (“to consult”). An old, self-regarding and well paid lawyer sometimes get to be a general counsel. A whole collection of these exotic birds of paradise in the same place (it will have to be a swanky venue indeed) is called an adoration

Lawyers (even mediocre ones) will laugh up their sleeves at you should you suggest the need to go and seek council’s advice. A council never gave sensible advice to anyone. Okay, okay, you might say your average counsel isn’t much better.

But actually, what a cool name for a law firm: the Legal Council. Imagine how much unintentional/subliminal work they’d get. A bit like a band called EXIT or PUSH PUSH (yes I'm looking at you, Mikey Havoc) or a motel that names itself purely to get the first entry in the yellow pages: Like the Aabaalea motel in Christchurch New Zealand.

Also, a likely, if tedious, name for the in-house rock band at a magic circle law firm. Having been in one of those let me tell you how cool they are. Or maybe I can just let you imagine.

See also

• It’s Isder not Eye-ess-dee-aye
• Swap does not rhyme with crap

Plain English Anatomy™ Noun | Verb | Adjective | Adverb | Preposition | Conjunction | Latin | Germany | Flannel | Legal triplicate | Nominalisation | Murder your darlings