Judges, lawyers, law students should possess semantic exactitude

By Chinua Asuzu

Judges, lawyers, and law students should possess semantic exactitude—we should appreciate subtle distinctions between words or expressions that look, seem, or sound similar.

In the following examples, all quotations are from Writing Manual: A Guide to Citations, Style, and Judicial Opinion Writing, 2nd ed., 2013, published by the Supreme Court of Ohio, USA.

• alternate versus alternative: “When used as a noun, alternate means a substitute or something that occurs or succeeds by turns. When used as an adjective, alternate means every second one or substitute. … An alternative is a choice, usually one of two choices. When used as an adjective, alternative means mutually exclusive. For example, ‘Although the defendant claimed that she did not intend to shoot the victim, she argued that counsel should have presented the alternative theory that she shot the victim in self-defence.’ Alternative can also mean affording a choice, as in ‘The committee offered several alternative plans.’”

• finding versus holding (in judicial work): Findings are of fact; holdings are of law. “A court makes findings on questions of fact and holdings (or conclusions) on questions of law.”

• historic versus historical: Historic means defining, famous, iconic, or important in history; historical is just the adjective from the noun history—it means past or in the past or of or relating to history, with no judgment on significance.

• imply versus infer: “Imply means to indicate or express indirectly. For example, ‘This language implies that a court may dismiss the claim if the conditions are met.’ Infer means to arrive at a conclusion from facts or premises. For example, ‘We can infer from the applicant’s failure to disclose three prior terminations that she intended to deceive the review board.’ Speakers and writers imply; readers infer.”

• method versus methodology: “Method means a process for attaining something. For example, ‘The Supreme Court has clarified the method we must use to assign responsibility in multi-employer situations.’ Methodology means the study of methods.” Stop saying methodology when you mean method, just to sound learned or charge higher fees.