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In reading about writing, I’ve run across the following advice
- H.W. Fowler: “Prefer the Saxon word to the Romance.”1
- Strunk & White: “Anglo-Saxon is a livelier tongue than Latin, so use Anglo-Saxon words.”2
But I never paid much attention because I didn’t know what it meant. When I finally learned, from Classical English Style by Ward Farnsworth,3 I saw that the advice could apply to legal writing, too.
Modern English contains words of many origins, but two key sources are Anglo-Saxon and Latin; many words of Latin origin are also French and are sometimes referred to as words of “Romance” origin. Yes, I’m skipping the history lesson, but some common examples can help make the point. Here are four pairs in which the first is of Anglo-Saxon origin and the second is of Latin/French/Romance origin:
- break/damage
- come/arrive
- make/create
- need/require
No, they’re not perfect synonyms, but we can immediately make some generalizations: Saxon words tend to be shorter—often single syllable, and harder in sound; they also tend to be concrete rather than abstract, and less formal, too. One way to put it is that Saxon words are plain, and Romance words are fancy, as in these Saxon/Romance noun pairs:
- belly/abdomen
- boss/superior
- job/position
- wish/desire
Try it. Here are five Saxon verbs—try to think of the Romance synonyms:
- ask
- buy
- eat
- see
- talk
(Answers at the end of this post.)
What can we do with this knowledge? The recommendation is not to replace every Romance word with a Saxon word—the best writing advice is rarely always or never. Instead, generally default to Saxon words but use your editorial judgment, considering audience, tone, legal terms, and subtleties of meaning. Here are some before-and-after examples with comments.
Before: The City Planner agreed that Hamet’s lot was adjacent to the single-family homes.
After: The City Planner agreed that Hamet’s lot was next to the single-family homes.
- This is a sensible edit that substitutes a shorter Saxon word for a longer Romance word, making the text a bit more readable.
Before: Castillo asserts that a spouse has no constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel in a divorce suit.
After: Castillo asserts that a spouse has no constitutional right to the effective help of counsel in a divorce suit.
- Probably not a good edit. “Effective assistance of counsel” is a standard legal phrase. Don’t replace Romance with Saxon when the Romance term is, or is part of, standard legal language.
Before: But a video camera won’t prevaricate.
After: But a video camera won’t lie.
- This is a solid edit. The example is from an appellate brief, and in that context, if you’re willing to begin a sentence with but and use a contraction, the Saxon lie delivers more force than the Romance prevaricate.
You might reasonably ask why it helps to know that the plain word is Saxon and the fancy word is Romance. Can’t we just use plainer, simpler words when possible? Yes, you can. But I hope this will help raise your writing IQ.
Plus, there’s more to know about Saxon and Romance words in legal writing, and I’ll continue the discussion in the next post. For now, put Saxon/Romance (or just fancy/plain) on your writing radar. Start to notice when you use a fancy Romance word when you could use a plain Saxon one.
Quiz answers: ask/inquire, buy/purchase, see/observe, eat/consume, talk/converse.
Get the book: Legal Writing Nerd: Be One.
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[1] H.W. Fowler, The King’s English 1 (1906). [2] William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White, The Elements of Style 77 (4th ed. 2000). [3] Ward Farnsworth, Classical English Style (forthcoming)