Probable Cause

During my undergraduate years, I was particularly interested in philosophy, cognitive science and linguistics.  Over the years I’ve learned (and forgotten) almost half-a-dozen languages.  About the only two I still remember are sign language and Spanish.  I even wrote a paper which must have gotten a lot of play in other universities, because when I once took it off the Internet, I received several emails from university students and even a professor, asking where it went.  (It’s here now and, by the way, for some time has shown up first on a Google search for language contact and historical linguistics.)  I was particularly fascinated with the concept of semantic drift.

So it’s no surprise that I pay particular attention to words and phrases within the legal framework in which I work today.

What I see disturbs me.

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