Noted Beverly Hills attorney Robert W. Hirsh recently brought to my attention a case of the importance of using words exactly. A case he is trying hinges on the meaning of the words between and among. As most of you might know, between refers only to situations when two options exist; if there are more than two, then among is the right choice.
He cites a 1936 precedent in the case of McShane’s will. The will said, “the remainder of jewelry to be divided between” daughter of the person who wrote the will “and the daughters of my son.” The seven daughters of the son sued the daughter of the person who wrote the will, claiming that she and they were to split the jewelry equally. Thus each of them would receive one-eighth of the jewelry. The daughter of the decedent claimed that since the will said between, what it meant was that she would receive one-half of the jewelry and the remaining half would be split seven ways among the daughters of the son. In his opinion, the judge wrote,
“The Standard Dictionary states respecting the word between that it is ‘strictly applicable only with reference to two things, but this may be understood as including cases in which a number of things are designated collectively as two wholes, or as taken in pairs, or where one thing is set off against an number of others; among is used in cases of distributive discrimination.’ …
Counsel for the children of [the son] has cited certain documents from other states which have construed between to mean among in gifts similar to the present. Even a casual inspection of precedents will, however, disclose a still greater number which have declined to do so…. The word between refers properly to two, and not more.”
The judge goes on to note that although some “uneducated” people use between interchangeably with among, most people use the words correctly. He writes, “The great mass of the words even of illiterate persons are used correctly. The lapses are only occasional, or the language would cease to serve the purposes of communication…. “
In the end, the daughter who claimed to deserve one-half of the jewelry won the case. The second half of the loot was split among the seven less lucky daughters of the son. In other words, the correct definition of the word between added up to a significant benefit for the daughter who inherited half.
It is not only in legal documents that verbal precision matters. In every email, letter and proposal we write, our readers are relying on us to, as the judge wrote, “serve the purposes of communication” by using words correctly. In a world of dashed-off email, rapid-fire texting, and pressured writing, imprecise language abounds. However, our readers are relying on us to fulfill the basic task of communication, which is to manipulate symbols in ways that reliably transmit meaning from our minds to their minds. If we start messing around with the letters and words, we ultimately risk missing the mark.