Fighting over Words
Language and Civil Law Cases
Published on 21. February 2008
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-0-19-532883-7 (ISBN)
Description
Most people fight over something or other and language is usually at the very center of the conflict. Often the way we use language is the cause of the battle. There are many areas in which fighting about language can be observed but civil law cases offer the most fertile examples of this warfare over words. What did the contract actually say? Was there deception in the advertising? Was the warning label clear and effective? Did the company evidence race of age discrimination against employees or customers? Was one company's name too similar to that of another company? Did the corporation plagiarize the work of another? Did it fraudulently represent what its work?
This book is about the ways linguistic analysis describes, exposes, and aids disputes in 18 civil cases where language framed the battle ground. Roger Shuy, a well-known forensic linguist and consultant, shows how the skills of linguistic analysis can help resolve disputed meanings, while also showing how civil cases can prove to be fertile ground for linguistic scholarship. He does this by collecting and analyzing cases involving contracts, trademark disputes, advertisements, product liability, copyright infringement, discrimination, and fraud controversies. In each case he employs all the tools of formal linguistics to show how it can be as helpful as other physical sciences in resolving legal disagreements.
The work will be of interest primarily to linguists - sociolinguists, forensic linguists, and scholars and students of law and society - as well as lawyers and law students.
This book is about the ways linguistic analysis describes, exposes, and aids disputes in 18 civil cases where language framed the battle ground. Roger Shuy, a well-known forensic linguist and consultant, shows how the skills of linguistic analysis can help resolve disputed meanings, while also showing how civil cases can prove to be fertile ground for linguistic scholarship. He does this by collecting and analyzing cases involving contracts, trademark disputes, advertisements, product liability, copyright infringement, discrimination, and fraud controversies. In each case he employs all the tools of formal linguistics to show how it can be as helpful as other physical sciences in resolving legal disagreements.
The work will be of interest primarily to linguists - sociolinguists, forensic linguists, and scholars and students of law and society - as well as lawyers and law students.
Reviews / Votes
"More than any other scholar working at the interface of language and law, Shuy has exemplified the uses to which linguistics can be put in the legal arena. This is applied linguistics at its most practical, and Shuy, in Fighting Over Words and his six other books, models it comprehensively." --Language"Fighting Over Words is a thought-provoking beyond the particular US cases it presents. Each page is a vivid reminder of how open to interpretations language is, and how easily it can become a minefield in social relationships, including commercial transactions and negotiation. In this respect the book raises important issues not only about linguistic evidence in the courtroom but about how contemporary public communication is best managed and
regulated in a period of interpretive mistrust." --Times Higher Education
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
The work will be of interest primarily to linguists - sociolinguists, forensic linguists, and scholars and students of law and society - as well as lawyers and law students.
Dimensions
Height: 155 mm
Width: 236 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
524 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-532883-7 (9780195328837)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
01/2008
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€47.99
Available for download
E-Book
01/2008
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€37.99
Available for download
Person
Roger Shuy is Professor Emeritus of Linguistics, Georgetown University. He is the author of Linguistics in the Courtroom: A Practical Guide and Creating Language Crimes: How Law Enforcement Uses (and Misuses) Language.
Content
Foreword
Section I: Business Contract Disputes: Introduction
1.: Peter Koehn v. Continental Casuality: "Or" in a Group Insurance Policy
2.: Matrixx v. New Strategies: Exclusive Marketing Services
3.: EMC v. Jeffrey Allen: Key Employee Agreement
4.: Nevada v. Professional Escorts: Interpreting State Code
Section II: Deceptive Trade Practice: Introduction
5.: Dynamic Air v. Flexicon: Competing Conveying System advertisements
6.: 11 State Attorneys Generals v. Ciba-Geigy: Nicotine Patch advertisments
7.: Ackerman v. Royal Bank of PA: Certificates of Deposit advertisements
Section III: Product Liability: Introduction
8.: Lassera v. Magniflux: Brain Damage From Cleaning Product
9.: Andrews v. Generac: Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
10.: Rinehart v. International Playtex: Toxic Shock from Tampons
11.: Proform v. Garrett: Toxic Gas in the Cockpit
Section IV: Copyright Infringement: Introduction
12.: St. Martin's Press v. Vickers Oil: Book versus pamphlet
Section V. Discrimination: Introduction
13.: HOME v. Havens Reality: Radical Steering in Real Estate
14.: Hanye v. General Electric: Age Discrimination
15.: Benekritis v. Darlington: Retaliatory Employment Discrimination
Section VI: Trademarks: Introduction
16.: Woodroast Systems v. Restaurants Unlimited; and Palomino Euro-Metro Bistro: Ownership of the Word, "Wood-roasted"
17.: Warren Distribution v. Prestone Products Corp.: Battle over Antifreeze
Section VII: Procurement Fraud: Introduction
18.: US v. Pratt Whitney: False Representation in a Government Contract
Section VIII: How Linguists Can Help in Corporate Cases; Academic References
Section I: Business Contract Disputes: Introduction
1.: Peter Koehn v. Continental Casuality: "Or" in a Group Insurance Policy
2.: Matrixx v. New Strategies: Exclusive Marketing Services
3.: EMC v. Jeffrey Allen: Key Employee Agreement
4.: Nevada v. Professional Escorts: Interpreting State Code
Section II: Deceptive Trade Practice: Introduction
5.: Dynamic Air v. Flexicon: Competing Conveying System advertisements
6.: 11 State Attorneys Generals v. Ciba-Geigy: Nicotine Patch advertisments
7.: Ackerman v. Royal Bank of PA: Certificates of Deposit advertisements
Section III: Product Liability: Introduction
8.: Lassera v. Magniflux: Brain Damage From Cleaning Product
9.: Andrews v. Generac: Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
10.: Rinehart v. International Playtex: Toxic Shock from Tampons
11.: Proform v. Garrett: Toxic Gas in the Cockpit
Section IV: Copyright Infringement: Introduction
12.: St. Martin's Press v. Vickers Oil: Book versus pamphlet
Section V. Discrimination: Introduction
13.: HOME v. Havens Reality: Radical Steering in Real Estate
14.: Hanye v. General Electric: Age Discrimination
15.: Benekritis v. Darlington: Retaliatory Employment Discrimination
Section VI: Trademarks: Introduction
16.: Woodroast Systems v. Restaurants Unlimited; and Palomino Euro-Metro Bistro: Ownership of the Word, "Wood-roasted"
17.: Warren Distribution v. Prestone Products Corp.: Battle over Antifreeze
Section VII: Procurement Fraud: Introduction
18.: US v. Pratt Whitney: False Representation in a Government Contract
Section VIII: How Linguists Can Help in Corporate Cases; Academic References