A statute to change a term in earlier statutes is apparently unable to summarize this in two paragraphs, but instead takes 23 pages to describe each individual change in every grammatical case.

Ein Artikel von Friedrich Kiechle, Vorsitzender Richter am Verwaltungsgericht Berlin, Umbenennung als Herkuleswerk, erschien in der FAZ am 27. Juli (für EUR 0,85 aus dem Archiv zu bekommen). Das Gesetz zur Umbenennung des Bundesgrenzschutzes in Bundespolizei hat eine Länge von 23 Seiten im Bundesgesetzblatt (hier als nicht-ausdruckbare-PDF-Datei zu finden):

bq. In … werden jeweils die Wörter ‘Der Bundesgrenzschutz’, ‘der Bundesgrenzschutz’, ‘Dem Bundesgrenzschutz’, ‘dem Bundesgrenzschutz’, ‘den Bundesgrenzschutz’, ‘vom Bundesgrenzschutz’, ‘des Bundesgrenzschutzes’, durch die Wörter ‘Die Bundespolizei’, ‘die Bundespolizei’, ‘Der Bundespolizei’, ‘die Bundespolizei’, ‘von der Bundespolizei’, ‘der Bundespolizei’, sowie jeweils das Wort ‘Er’, ‘er’, ‘seine’ durch das Wort ‘Sie’, ‘sie’, ‘ihre’ ersetzt.

Das wurde nicht immer so gehandhabt:

bq. Immerhin steht etwa bis zum heutigen Tag in Paragarph 23 des Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuches, daß “einem Vereine, der seinen Sitz nicht in einem Bundesstaate hat, … in Ermangelung besonderer reichsgesetzlicher Vorschriften Rechtsfähigkeit durch Beschluß des Bundesrats verliehen werden (kann)” – und nimmt damit auf Verfassungsinstitutionen des Kaiserreiches Bezug …

When I translated a brochure for the Wartburg including a description of the collections, I had problems finding a term for Martin Luther’s Reiselöffel. This just shows how hard things were before the Internet, because today I can find all kinds of folding spoons, but then, the term didn’t occur to me until it was too late.

Martin Luther’s spoon:

Not only are there plastic spoons:

but there are even fake medieval spoons for your medieval table:

Then again, one could go straight to a lawyer whose hobby is spoons (lots of spoon links).

(Via Udo Vetter – see also this link, given in the comments, with a picture of the largest spoon carved by Horst Wesemann)

Das Court of Appeal in London hat drei Urteile von Judge Nicholas Medawar QC aufgehoben. Viele gegen den Richter gemachte Vorwürfe seien nicht bewiesen worden, aber es könne nie zumutbar sein, wenn der Richter dem Anschein nach eher die Anklagevertretung unterstützt als die Verteidigung. Auch empfiehlt es sich nicht, während der Verteidiger vorträgt, mit den Augen zu rollen, den Kopf zu schütteln und den Füller hinzuwerfen.

Dazu ein nicht ganz ernst gemeinter Kommentar:

bq. If m’lud in future can’t tap an index finger to his temple to indicate that he thinks a witness is a complete raving loony, it seems a poor state of affairs. One of the primary weapons a judicial system has against the criminal classes is fear. Let us put it bluntly. The more quixotic judges are allowed to be, the more bloody frightening they are. It’s no good having courts run by calm, objective non-entities.

(See also earlier entry)

IPKAT reports on the evidence relied on when the application to register ‘Dykes on bikes’ was refused. Apparently there were over 400 pages of submissions, but the US Patent and Trademark Office relief on two dictionary definitions. One of these was from an online version of the 1913 Webster’s dictionary (whatever that is – was ‘Webster” copyrighted then? because it isn’t now). The online version included arbitrary additions, however, bearing the tag of Patrick J. Cassidy:

bq. Terms in the dictionary bearing his “tag” indicate that they were not, in fact, part of the original dictionary he had transcribed online but rather something that he himself had arbitrarily added. So in essence, the PTO relied on a definition that was created at random by someone not at all associated with Webster’s dictionary. The second definition the PTO relied on came from an online dictionary of Spanish slang that listed “dyke” as a “vulgar word.” Once again there was no accountability for the definition — it was just one person’s site giving what they consider vulgar words in Spanish.

Previously approved trademarks include Hustler’s Young Sluts, Psychic Phone Whores and Psychobitch, which all contain words regarded as vulgar by that dictionary.

There must be a doctorate going on the topic of judges and dictionaries.

Ectaco SpeechGuard is a handheld interpreting device based on something used by the US military. PCWorld’s Digital Duo demonstrate it and ridicule it in a video clip. (The clip starts with an ad. Scroll down to ‘Speaking in Tongues’ if you don’t get the video first time.

If you go to the Ectaco site, there is a lot more information and there are special models, such as the Attorney SpeechGuard.

* Thousands of instructions and questions on the following topics: Appointments, Definitions, Basic Interview, Fees, Sentencing, Motor Vehicle Interview, and Criminal Interview
* English speech recognition that recognizes 700 different speech patterns and can “learn” and adapt to anyone’s voice.
* Search for single words or whole phrases.
* Easily operate your unit with a touch-screen or navigational buttons day or night!
* Access your most frequently used commands and phrases conveniently in “My SpeechGuard”.

And there is a Law Enforcement SpeechGuard:

# Have you ever pulled someone over for speeding who didn’t understand why because you don’t speak their language?
# Have you ever tried to get answers quickly to help resolve a situation and needed participation fast? Has that ever complicated the cooperation with non-English speaking civilians wanting to help you?
# Do some non-English speaking residents feel like you are not really trying to help them?
# Are you often misunderstood in ethnically diverse communities because of language barriers?
# Have you ever been frustrated waiting for a translator to arrive and assist?

bq. If you answered “YES” to any of these questions, SpeechGuard PD-4 can turn those answers into “NO”.

I’m trying to picture the SpeechGuard in one of those uncomfortable situations where a car is stopped and you wonder if someone’s going to shoot (seen too many American films).

(Thanks to Chris Durban, whose Onionskin column appears in the ITI Bulletin and the ATA Chronicle, who posted this on www.flefo.org.

From a chemist’s shop window near the Rathaus, this evening