Words like
aforementioned, aforesaid, hereby, henceforward, hereupon, notwithstanding, therein, thereof, therefore, thereto, thenceforth, thenceforward, wherein, whereof...
And also, under what classification do these words go?
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4What do you mean ‘this kind of words’? There’s not really anything all those words have in common, apart from the fact that they are compound words in which at least one of the two constituent words is either an adverb or a preposition (but less common word classes to be used in compounds in English), so it’s very hard to know what you would expect to be listed.– Janus Bahs JacquetJan 19, 2014 at 19:03
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5They go under the categories "Legal Terms", and "Archaic Terms" (to the extent those are distinct categories). If you see one of these words in a document, talk to a lawyer before signing anything. If you ever hear anyone use one of these in conversation, move immediately to the closest exit.– John LawlerJan 19, 2014 at 19:05
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4@John, that’s a bit harsh, surely. I have no problem whatsoever using ‘therefore’ in normal conversation, and I might well use ‘notwithstanding’, too. (And ‘henceforth’, though that’s not on the list.)– Janus Bahs JacquetJan 19, 2014 at 19:26
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@JanusBahsJacquet Absolutely. I can think of instances where I might use any of them, albeit perhaps with an attempt at wit and irony in some cases. What is the use of having a prodigious language like English at one's disposal only to dumb it down at every turn? Even used correctly, big words can misregister if ineptly timed. Police officers are routinely satirised in Britain for just that. But used effectively by an erudite personality like Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, the effect can be devastating.– WS2Jan 19, 2014 at 22:08
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@WS2 Don't you mean harmenbecks? You have to draw the line somewhere, and most of these are best left on the far side.– Edwin AshworthJan 19, 2014 at 22:49
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1 Answer
Many of the words you list are used as legalisms
2: a legal term or rule
Lawyerspeak, and legalese are also used to describe such terms.
Aforementioned and aforesaid in contracts:
https://www.adamsdrafting.com/aforesaid-and-aforementioned/
Henceforward in the Emancipation proclamation:
https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Emancipation+Proclamation
Notwithstanding in contracts:
https://weagree.com/weblog/notwithstanding-is-a-tricky-one/
The simple ones often get used in regular speech, but the more complex variants are almost always found in contracts and such. They're like XOR, EOR and NOR used mostly by logicians and programmers.
answered Jan 19, 2014 at 19:04
