Monday, April 2, 2007

Ripped Out of Context

A lot of unreasonable people seem to end up in court--at least the court where I hang out. One of the side effects is that, occasionally, weird things get said in a very formal setting, spoken by very earnest attorneys and judges. I remember fairly early on in my legal career, a textile manufacturer was suing a lingerie store, and the poor defense attorney had to introduce himself on the record with the words, "Frank Frankenheimer for Naughty Fanny, your Honor." He was visibly uncomfortable.

Last week another mule-headed case produced the following bits of dialogue, both spoken with utter seriousness by one of the more venerable judges on the court:

"The goose didn't sell by itself, so he put it with the duck and then it sold."

and,

"Does one have to pay when one goes inside to see the girls?"

Both quotes sound much more proper when placed in context, which is why I prefer not to do so.

2 comments:

zabel said...

"Frank Frankenheimer for Naughty Fanny, your Honor."

It's too bad the judge can't make his ruling right then and there. Would probably save time.

S. said...

Actually, he was only there to notify the court that the case had settled, so I felt doubly bad that the few words he uttered had to include "naughty" and "fanny" packed together.