phrases, sayings, idioms and expressions at

Shakespeare - yup!

Posted by Lewis on January 24, 2005

In Reply to: Shakespeare? posted by Bob on January 23, 2005

: : : : : : : : : : There is an expression 'one of the world's shortest books', which is a thoroughly tongue-in-cheek concept.
: : : : : : : : : : These books would include --- "Great French War Heros',
: : : : : : : : : : "Great Russian Philantropists", "Spotted Owl Recipes", "The Book of Virtues" by Bill Clinton, "The Engineers Guide to Fashion", "My Plan to Find the Real Killers", by O.J. Simpson. My personal favourite is "Different Ways to Spell Bob".

: : : : : : : : :
: : : : : : : : : Another short book -- "World's Most Popular Lawyers" --- also "Conrad Black's Ethics Guide".

: : : : : : : : "Quality in Accounting" by the Enron staff

: : : : : : : Those are delightful. My friends have had a go at me with "Different Ways To Boil Food: A Study In Irish Cooking"

: : : : : : : SR

: : : : : : Ignorance is bliss, I believe:

: : : : : : "World's most popular lawyers"

: : : : : : I may miss a few from a sweep across history, but

: : : : : : many revolutionaries and statesmen have been lawyers
: : : : : : Che Guevara?
: : : : : : cigar-toting Bill Clinton (got elected to the biggest job in the world didn't he?)
: : : : : : The Cheshire Cat a.k.a. Tony Blair
: : : : : : Sir Thomas More (voted greatest lawyer of all time for daring to defy Henry VIII)

: : : : : : for you American jurists - Oliver Wendall Holmes? Clarence Darrow?
: : : : : : writers & performers like :
: : : : : : Cicero, John Mortimer, John Grisham,
: : : : : : William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, John Cleese,
: : : : : : (probably) Geoffrey Chaucer,

: : : : : : and in fiction...
: : : : : : Perry Mason, Horace Rumpole, Kavanagh QC, John Deedes, Ally MacBeale, Michael Douglas in half his films,
: : : : : : and that's leaving out lots and lots of one-off TV & film lawyers

: : : : : : and here is the killer blow :
: : : : : : Me!
: : : : : : ...no sorry...
: : : : : : Nelson Mandela

: : : : : : everybody who laughed at there being no popular lawyers go "D'Oh!" and bang your heads against the nearest door jamb.

: : : : : : Lewis

: : : : : I believe Lewis may be the "world's most popular lawyer." He ranks at the very top with me!

: : : : I put him at the bottom.

: : : See link. Just a reflection of a McCarthy-like right-wing induced air of repression.

: : if you want lawyer jokes -there is a site called "nolo" something - you can find it by googling - it has most of the favourites.

: : L

: William "First, let's kill all the lawyers" Shakespeare?

I understand (i.e. can't recall exactly and can't be arsed to research) that Shakey Bill did work as a lawyer prior to stardom. the law generally was not a regulated profession until (I think) the Society of Gentlemen Advocates came into being a couple of centuries after Shakespeare's time. the Bar existed, but other legal work was carried out by 'clerks' and not strictly regulated. when people with 'book-learning' wanted an inky job, they often did legal work and Shakespeare's plays show a use of legal language throughout - Hamlet for example rails against "the law's delays" in the To Be monologue and The Merchant of Venice and many other plays all have extensive legal references, which it is believed come from Shakespeare having done legal work as a clerk. I think my notions about it come from an article on lawyers in literature/history published in the "Law Society Gazette" but as it was probably over 10 years ago, I would not be able ot find it easily.

working as a lawyer and noting their shortcomings are hardly incompatible - lawyers are often like Rhinos - "thick skinned, short-sighted and charge too much" - to which I add - "and permanently have the horn"

I often help people try to get reasonab le VFM from their lawyers or help them complain when they don't.

Who (else) will guard the Guards?

L

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