Читать книгу Now You Know, Volume 4 - Doug Lennox - Страница 13

Why is a lie or a deception called a “falsehood”?

A falsehood is a lie or a distortion of the truth and derives from a time before men wore hats. They used hoods to cover their heads from the elements, and these hoods were designed with fur or something else to indicate an individual’s rank within the community. If a con man wished to deceive you, he put on a hood designed to be worn by a person of substance such as a doctor or a lawyer. This tactic enabled him to gain enough trust to set up an illegal scam. The con man did this by wearing a “false hood.”

Why do we say someone has been “fired” when he or she is forced out of a job?

Being fired is usually unpleasant, and even though it’s sometimes a disguised blessing, it never reaches the cruelty of its medieval Celtic origins. If a clan leader wanted to get rid of a petty criminal without killing him, or if someone was found guilty of stealing from his employer, especially from the mines, he was taken to his home along with all his tools and placed inside after which the house was “fired” or set on fire. If he escaped, he was banished from the clan.

Why is a useless conclusion to an argument called “moot”?

If, after an argument, it is concluded that the point made is irrelevant, it’s called moot. Moot is an Old English word that means “an assembly of the people for making judicial or political decisions.” That’s how the word took on the meaning of a discussion or a debate. By the sixteenth century, moot had developed the specific meaning within the legal profession of a “hypothetical discussion on a legal point as an intellectual exercise.”

Just as arguments at an original moot or town meeting were of little consequence, the conclusions of an academic exercise among lawyers carries no weight in the real world and so it, too, is irrelevant or moot.

What is “trial by combat”?

Today “trial by combat” is generally used as a reference to lessons learned through experience, such as a soldier who has seen action, but the term was, in fact, from a legitimate legal process also known as “judicial combat.” In medieval Christian cultures it was agreed that God decided the outcome of trials, a belief that rooted such proceedings in the legal theory of “ordeals”: torture tests that God would see you through if you were innocent.

Trial by combat was practised by the nobility and by military courts under the guise of chivalry while commoners were tried by ordeal. The court determined a just outcome by sentencing the plaintiff and defendant to a trial by combat, a legal fight, often to the death, with the survivor or victor to be chosen by God. Trial by combat, or judicial combat, was usually the settlement of one man’s word against that of another. Most of these duels were fought over a question of honour and were most frequently performed in France up until the late sixteenth century.

In 1833, twenty-three-year-old John Wilson killed nineteen-year-old Robert Lyon of Perth, Ontario, in what was the last recorded mortal duel in Canada. Wilson later became a judge in the Ontario Supreme Court.

Why do we sometimes say “fork it over” in place of “hand it over”?

The expression “fork it over” has a connotation of urgency to it and is often used dramatically during a criminal holdup. In fact, the expression does have origins in a long-forgotten underworld. Of course, the phrase can also be employed with humour when asking for a financial payment for goods or services rendered or for the repayment of a loan. The “fork” in question is a reference to “fingers,” which were the original dinner forks, especially for thieves and other low-lifes.

Why is a monetary deposit for freedom from prison called “bail”?

A bailiff is a sheriff’s deputy, a subordinate magistrate with jurisdiction over a strictly defined area. He or she has responsibility over the custody and administration of prisoners. To the early English, bailiff meant “village” and derived from bail, which described the palisade or wall around a community or castle. Bailey came to mean any wall enclosing an outer court, and because the Central Criminal Court in London stood within the ancient bailey of the city wall, it took the name Old Bailey. Monetary bail for restricted freedom is simply a reference to the bailiff’s office.

Bail, the root for bailiff, originally meant a “horizontal piece of wood affixed to two stakes,” as in the case of the wicket in the game of cricket.

Why is support paid by one former spouse to another called “alimony”?

The court often orders the chief provider of a divorcing couple to pay an allowance to the other. This sum of money is called alimony because it literally keeps the recipient alive. In Latin alimony means “nourishment” or “sustenance.”

The term palimony was coined in 1979 to apply to the separation of film star Lee Marvin (1924–1987) from a long-time live-in lover. Palimony applies the same rules to an unmarried couple who have coexisted equally and contributed to the couple’s success.

Why is land called “real estate”?

Real estate is a piece of land that includes the air above it, the ground below it, and any buildings or structures on it. The term was first used in 1666 England. In 1670 the word realty surfaced to mean the same thing. Real means “actual” or “genuine,” and estate, of course, means “property.” Real estate became a legal term to identify a royal grant of estate land from the king of England.

In England a real-estate broker or realtor is called a land agent.

ODDS & ODDITIES

The odds of being the victim of a serious crime in one’s lifetime are 20 to 1.

The odds of being murdered are 18,000 to 1, with the chance of being the victim of a sharp or blunt instrument being six times greater than from a gun for which the odds against that occurring are 325 to 1.

The chance of dying from an assault of any kind is 1 in 16,421.

The odds of getting away with murder are 2 to 1.

Why are private detectives called “gumshoes”?

Around the beginning of the twentieth century a popular casual shoe was manufactured with a sole made of gum rubber. They were very quiet and were favoured by thieves who used them during burglaries and other crimes and consequently became required footwear for the detectives hunting them down. The term gumshoe stuck with private detectives as it aptly described the stealthy and secretive nature of their work.

Why are informers called “whistle-blowers”?

A whistle-blower is an insider who secretly reveals nefarious or scandalous wrongdoing by an organization or a government. The reference is, of course, to a referee or umpire who calls a foul during a sporting event. It was introduced to our vernacular in 1953 by the American writer Raymond Chandler (1888–1959) in his Philip Marlowe detective novel The Long Goodbye.

The most famous whistle-blower of the twentieth century was Deep Throat, who revealed the criminal inner workings of the administration of President Richard Nixon (1913–1994) during the Watergate break-in affair. In 2005 the identity of Deep Throat was finally made public. He was W. Mark Felt (1913– ), the former assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation during Nixon’s presidency.

Why do we threaten to read the “riot act” to discipline children?

In law a riot is “a violent disturbance of the public peace by twelve or more persons assembled for a common purpose” and may be committed in private as well as public places. The Riot Act, which carried real weight and is the one we still refer to in the expression, became law in England in 1714. It authorized the death penalty for those who failed to disperse after the act had been formally read to those assembled. Thankfully, there have been modern revisions to that act, though the consequences to those who disobey the order to disband can still be severe. Children beware!