Found in a Dictionary of Words and Phrases Used in Ancient and Modern Law (1899)
- Waive: To relinquish; to abandon; to cast aside. To outlaw a woman; a convicted woman who is outlawed.
- Corsage: An ancient and extraordinary impost payable in corn.
- Court of Dusty Feet: Court of record anciently held at fairs to do justice between buyer and seller.
- Scintilla juris: The smallest interest. A particle of right.
- Feu et lieu: In old French-Canadian law, actual settlement on land by a tenant; hearth and home.
- Appostille: In French law, an addition or annotation made in the margin of any writing.
- De char et de sang: Of flesh and blood; words used at the time of Edward I in claiming one as a villain.
- Corium forisfacere: To forfeit one's skin; to be whipped.
- Aver et tener: To have and to hold.
Mingle-Mangle
From Garner’s Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage, s.v. mingle-mangle:
A common vice of language in early English opinions. It consists in [sic] English larded with Latin or French… For modern legal readers, mingle-mangle makes for fascinating, if not entirely comprehensible reading.
An oft-quoted example of mingle-mangle is included on the Wikipedia page for Law French. From Chief Justice Sir George Tremby’s marginal notes in Dyer’s Reports (1688):
Fuit assault per prisoner la condemne pur felony que puis son condemnation ject un Brickbat a le dit Justice que narrowly mist, & pur ceo immediately fuit Indictment drawn per Noy envers le Prisoner, & son dexter manus ampute & fix al Gibbet, sur que luy mesme immediatement hange in presence de Court.
Here’s my translation: the prisoner, upon being condemned for felony, threw a brickbat at the said Justice, narrowly missing him; immediately an indictment was drawn up against the prisoner, and his right hand cut off and affixed to the gibbet, where he himself was presently hanged in the presence of the Court.
The very definition of swift justice (with an extra helping of mangle).
