Doublets and Triplets

If you have ever sifted through a contract or been asked to look at the terms and conditions, you’ll probably have wondered why lawyers use two or three words where one will do.

English borrows many words from many languages. The language is mainly made up of old English, Danish, Latin, French (about 30% or so) with smatterings of Japanese words, Greek words and Dutch words thrown in among others.

Take the word meeting — there are dozens of alternatives available such as convention, rendezvous, powwow. As lawyers and contract writers tend to be overly cautious, they have decided that using every possible word in their legal documents makes their documents watertight.

Legal Doublets and Triplets

This is why we have doublets: two words that mean the same thing but that partner up in legal documents to show that all avenues are covered. We also have triplets (three words that do the same work). Luckily, doublets are far more common and easier to remember. Here is a list of some of the more common legal doublets:

aid and abet — to assist

all and sundry — everybody