Comment by 1vuio0pswjnm7
7 days ago
"Sure, you can define it in plain english, but is the resulting description extensible, understandable, or more descriptive than a precise language? I think there is a reason why legalese is not plain English, and it goes beyond mere gatekeeping."
Is this suggesting the reason for legalese is to make documents more "extensible, understable or descriptive" than if written in plain English.
What is this reason that the parent thinks legalese is used that "goes beyond gatekeeping".
Plain English can be every bit as precise as legalese.
It is also unclear that legalese exists for the purpose of gatekeeping. For example, it may be an artifact that survives based on familiarity and laziness.
Law students are taught to write in plain English.
https://www.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/2021-07/pla...
In some situations, e.g., drafting SEC filings, use of plain English is required by law.
> Plain English can be every bit as precise as legalese.
If you attempt to make "plain English" as precise as legalese, you will get something that is basically legalese.
Legalese does also have some variables, like "Party", "Client", etc. This allows for both precision -- repeating the variable name instead of using pronouns or re-identifying who you're talking about -- and also for reusability: you can copy/paste standard language into a document that defines "Client" differently, similar to a subroutine.