Intents and purposes

Posted by Smokey Stover on April 15, 2009 at 06:07

In Reply to: Intents and purposes posted by Emily Taylor on April 14, 2009 at 10:58:

: Can anyone tell me the meaning of "all intents and purposes"?

My Yahoo Answers tells me that "to all intents and purposes" derives from a legal term in the 16th century, "to all intents, constructions and purposes." Its plain English counterpart today might be "in effect" or "for all practical purposes." The language means that from your intentions or purpose we can deduce that you did it. Or perhaps that goes too far. The example given by Yahoo is (I paraphrase): you joined him in his apartment, alone, and had drinks with him. To all intents and purposes you allowed yourself to be seduced. On the other hand (continues Yahoo), since sex with a woman without her explicit consent is rape, perhaps you were, to all intents and purposes, raped.

THis legalistic use is plainly no longer in fashion. "In effect" is probably a good modern substitute. Another alternative is, usinglanguage appropriate to the situation, "you might as well have been ...," or "It might as well have been . . . ."
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