#16958 - 01/27/01 07:48 AM
Moot
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Pooh-Bah
Registered: 01/05/01
Posts: 1773
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In the law, "moot" is a term of art, and a moot issue is one which is not capable of judicial resolution because the controversy no longer presents a matter for which there is a remedy. A court will dismiss a case if the issue it presents is moot. I suspect that the use of "moot point" in everyday parlance stems from the legal meaning.
WARNING: CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECT ENSUES. I WOULD HAVE CHOSEN A MORE MUNDANE ILLUSTRATION IF I COULD HAVE THOUGHT OF ONE QUICKLY THIS EARLY IN THE MORNING. BY USE OF THIS ILLUSTRATION, NO POSITION ON THE ISSUE IS SUGGESTED, AND NO DEBATE INVITED. Thank you.
An example of a moot case: a pregnant young girl seeks to have an abortion, and under the laws of the state she must have the consent of her parents to undergo the procedure or must obtain the permission of the court based upon a showing of psychological or medical necessity. The parents refuse consent, and she commences an action in court to obtain judicial approval. Based on the evidence presented, the court determines that there is an insufficient showing of necessity under the statutory standards, and also refuses permission. The girl appeals. While the trial and appellate proceedings have occurred, of course, her pregnancy has progressed, and by the time the appellate court hears the controversy, she has already given birth. At that point, the appellate court is liable to dismiss the appeal on the basis that the issue is moot, ie, no longer capable of remedy because there is no abortion to perform.
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#16959 - 01/27/01 08:22 AM
Re: Moot
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member
Registered: 12/16/00
Posts: 130
Loc: Virginia
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Sparteye:
You could just have easily used the Supreme Court's ruling on our recent Presidential election as an example. <insert "ducking for cover" emoticon>
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#16961 - 01/27/01 10:13 AM
Re: Phrases that inflict excruciating pain
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journeyman
Registered: 01/19/01
Posts: 87
Loc: City of Brotherly Love, no not...
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jmh -
Interesting isn't it how our language changes before our very eyes (ears?), sometimes so subtlely that we don't notice! My father is still ranting about the "new" verbs - to host and to parent, not to mention what he considers the grammatical disaster of "It's me!" And then, there's that wonderful word - gay. I find it sad that "gay" now carries such baggage for some people that we can essentially no longer use it to mean - light hearted and happy.
Sparteye -
yes, I knew about the Moot Halls and moot court... The Anglo Saxons (of Beowulfian times) met in Moot Halls to hold a "gemot" or "meeting" (cf www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/560-975dooms.html#Glossary). When I was at Pitt (pre-PC days!) the law students there had to argue before a moot court. It was the only time I saw an otherwise cocky law-student housemate have a fit of nerves! Thanks for this little diversion - haven't delved into Anglo-Saxon in years!
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#16962 - 01/27/01 01:21 PM
Re: Phrases that inflict excruciating pain
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member
Registered: 12/16/00
Posts: 130
Loc: Virginia
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I'm perfectly happy to give up one word out of thousands to give a previously closeted (hmmm... Architecture thread?) group of individuals a rallying point. If I can't use the word 'gay' anymore for it's original meaning, but it makes a large group of people a bit happier and lighter of heart, then they are more than welcome to it.
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#16963 - 01/27/01 02:17 PM
Re: changing words
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 11/25/00
Posts: 3439
Loc: New England, USA
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Poster: Solamente, Doug.
I'm perfectly happy to give up one word out of thousands If I can't use the word 'gay' anymore for it's original meaning, but it makes a large group of people a bit happier and lighter of heart, then they are more than welcome to it.
Yes, indeedy, Doug.
Words change, meanings change!
As times change we give up one way of thinking for another.
One can only hope that attitudes will undergo a similar metamorphosis.
wow
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#16964 - 01/27/01 02:44 PM
Re: gay
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old hand
Registered: 07/03/00
Posts: 1094
Loc: Cincinnati & Loveland, Ohio, U...
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It seems to me that this word is currently going through another change. It obviously still has the "homosexual" meaning, but now, as, I guess, a reference to this, people are calling something that they find unfavorable "gay".
Ex. "I can't believe the principal made a rule against wearing hats in school, that's so gay!"
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#16965 - 01/27/01 03:44 PM
Re: gay
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journeyman
Registered: 01/19/01
Posts: 87
Loc: City of Brotherly Love, no not...
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>Ex. "I can't believe the principal made a rule against wearing hats in school, that's so gay!"
Thinking about the implications of that usage of "gay" puts me in despair, once again, of the human race.
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#16967 - 01/28/01 12:28 AM
Re: My Bad
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member
Registered: 01/07/01
Posts: 137
Loc: Usually the western United Sta...
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I read this and thought... I don't think I've ever heard anyone say this. And then tonight I was standing behind my husband when he was talking and he said it, I about fell over. It's like I opened the thread and let some evil in my home.
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