Unless and until

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”.

To put it in a way which Lenny Kravitz<ref>The learned author of the celebrated monograph “It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over”.</re> might recognize:

“It can’t happen until it’s happened.”

At the point in time at which X happens, then X must have happened. Q.E.D.

But don’t let that stream of irresistible logic stop you flannelling away to your heart’s content.

Unless and until

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