A.Word.A.Day --lex loci

A.Word.A.Day

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Apr 8, 2013

This week's theme
Terms from law

This week's words
lex loci
hereditament
suborn
mens rea
attorn

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

I make laws. More precisely, I invent laws.

"Can you take a look at this leaky faucet?" asks my wife, Stuti.
"I can't."
"Why?"
"It's unlawful in Washington state for those with names beginning with the letter A to do plumbing work when the moon is gibbous."
"Never heard of it." She rolls her eyes. "Did they pass it this morning in Olympia?"

Ignorance of the law is no excuse, I tell her.

And neither is not knowing terms from the law.

To keep you up to date on legal matters, this week we'll bring you five terms from the world of law. Also, as you might know, under international law, those 18 and over are required to know the five terms featured this week.

lex loci

PRONUNCIATION:

(leks LOH-sy, -kee, -ky)

MEANING:

noun: The law of the place.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin lex (law) + locus (place). Earliest documented use: 1832.

NOTES:

Lex loci says that the law of that country or jurisdiction applies where the act was done.

USAGE:

"Another statute book named Conscience is observed lex loci wherever God sees."
David Mitchell; Cloud Atlas; Random House; 2004.

"He is also survived by his two Labrador retrievers: Lex Loci and Stare Decisis."
Obituary: Nathan S. Heffernan, Chief Justice (Ret.); Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Apr 17, 2007.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

To have great poets, there must be great audiences. -Walt Whitman, poet (1819-1892)

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