third-person reference or shortened so that it almost snapped out of the mouth

there was still a rigid set of rules about what was said and how

oldproverb“sticksandstonescanbreakmybones,butnameswillneverhurtme”i

legalrealists

(Rule404oftheFederalRulesofEvidence).

conceptualvocabularyofthelaw,FelixCohen,lawyerandlegalrealist

Alice-in-Wonderland

It’sarhetoricalcontest

morethingstorememberandmorewaystogowrong.

buttheopposinglawyersarenotsupposedtobemakingarguments—theyaresupposedtobeelicitingevidence

We prefer sticking to the point, and insuring ourselves againstchange

To err is human, we say, but we don't like the idea much,

mistakes.

it is no accident at all that mutations occur; the molecule of DNA was ordainedfrom the beginning to make small mistakes

We would have made one fatal mistake: our molecule wouldhave been perfect.

the method used for growth and replication is essentially unchange

The greatest single achievement of nature to date was surely the invention of the molecule ofDNA.

For many speakers, beliefs about the correctness of standard vari-eties of language and the incorrectness of nonstandard varieties are deeply en-trenched. They are backed by many grammar books and language pundits—to thepoint where they seem “commonsense” ideas about “Standard English.”

One telling example he provides is taken fromthe videoA Private Universe

This intertwining of structural and social linguistic topics is critical.

Wolfram and Schilling-Estes(1998, 281-84) u

Declaration

When the work of abstract artists like Braque and Picassofirst appeared, it was declared by the tastemakers then in power not to be art.

Saul of Tarsus.

Scalia

identity, intimacy, aspiration, and dignity, all wordsKennedy uses

ow our system of government is supposed towork.”

The skeptic

Absolutists

Here the bottom-line opposition is between absolute right on the one hand andsecurity and the saving of lives on the other. The starting point for debate is the“ticking bomb” scenario: a bomb that will kill hundreds or thousands or millionshas been placed in an unknown location and is set to go off in hours.

there is no neutral space from the vantage point of which the varieties of spincan be inventoried and assessed

That fashioning is called,derogatively, “spin,”

Moynihan’s pithy endorsement of fact over rhetoric is itself a piece of rhetoric,

You are entitled to your own facts ifyou can make them stick.

Reality with a capital R t

this book tries to do is explain how argument works indifferent contexts.

I am making anargument about argument and its relationship to the human condition.

how do you knowwhich of the things you might say will win you points in the game, and whichwill mark you as a nonserious player?