Lawtalk : the unknown stories behind familiar legal expressions / James E. Clapp [and others].

"Law-related words and phrases abound in our everyday language, often without our being aware of their origins or their particular legal significance: boilerplate, jailbait, pound of flesh, rainmaker, the third degree. This insightful and entertaining book reveals the unknown stories behind familiar legal expressions that come from sources as diverse as Shakespeare, vaudeville, and Dr. Seuss. Separate entries for each expression follow no prescribed formula but instead focus on the most interesting, enlightening, and surprising aspects of the words and their evolution. Popular myths and misunderstandings are explored and exploded, and the entries are augmented with historical images and humorous sidebars. Lively and unexpected, Lawtalk will draw a diverse array of readers with its abundance of linguistic, legal, historical, and cultural information. Those readers should be forewarned: upon finishing one entry, there is an irresistible temptation to turn to another, and yet another ."-- Provided by publisher.

"A lively look at the history and meanings of today's legal expressions"--Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 295-338) and index.

Abuse excuse -- Affirmative action -- Age of consent -- Sidebar: just knitting -- Aid and abet (and the like) -- Sidebar: I give you that orange -- Attorney general -- Attorney vs. lawyer -- Badge of slavery -- Billable hour -- Sidebar: no rest for the weary -- Black letter law -- Sidebar: blowing the dust off the black letter books -- Blackmail -- Blood money -- Blue laws -- Blue wall of silence -- Boilerplate -- Chancellor's foot -- Charter party -- Chinese wall -- Color-blind -- Comstockery -- Sidebar: Shaw and Comstock -- Corpus delicti -- Sidebar: expecting the unexpected -- CSI effect -- Cut the baby in half -- Day in court -- Death and taxes -- Death tax -- Deep pocket -- Deliberate speed -- Electoral college -- Eye for an eye -- Fishing expedition -- Grand jury -- Green card -- Hanged for a sheep -- Sidebar: Baron Alderson's remark -- Hearsay -- Hornbook law -- Hue and cry -- Indenture -- Indict a ham sandwich -- Jailbait -- Jim Crow -- Kangaroo court -- Kill all the lawyers -- Sidebar: dying wish -- The law is a ass -- Lawyers, guns, and money -- Make a federal case out of it -- Sidebar: salt seller -- One-bite rule -- One person, one vote -- Oyez -- Paper chase -- Penumbra -- Philadelphia lawyer -- Sidebar: when you really need a good lawyer ... -- Pierce the corporate veil -- Sidebar: corporate entity -- Play the race card -- Politically correct -- Posse -- Pound of flesh -- Rainmaker -- Rap -- Rap sheet -- Read the riot act -- Sidebar: reading the riot act to a rainmaker -- RICO -- Rule of thumb -- Sidebar: too serious for God -- Scofflaw -- Separate but equal -- Shadow of the law -- Shyster -- Sidebar: standard operating procedure -- Star chamber -- Testify -- Thin blue line -- Thinking like a lawyer -- Sidebar: the legal mind -- Third degree -- Three-fifths rule -- Versus -- Wall of separation -- Wet foot, dry foot -- White shoe -- The whole truth -- Sidebar: not a scholar.