Lingering Question
From the top of my degree:
"To all persons to whom these presents may come greeting. . . ."
What in the world does that mean?
"To all persons to whom these presents may come greeting. . . ."
What in the world does that mean?
posted by Jody Rosen Knower at 7:53 PM
2 Comments:
Haven't you, of all people, heard of gobbleldegook???
Definition: language that is meaningless or is made unintelligible by excessive use of abtruse technical terms; nonsense.Origin: (1940'soriginally U.S.)
Probably imitating a turkey's gobble. Oxford American
Dictionaries.
Personally, I remember this word being used in US Army, Navy and AirForce circles during the Korean "Conflict" referring to every order that came down from the Secretaries of the Army, Navy and/or Coast Guard!
According to the American Heritage Dictionary (via dictionary.com), it's a legal term:
presents Law The document or instrument in question: Be it known by these presents.
Used when the document is referring to itself, it seems to me.
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