If Wordie is ever sued (for libel?), I hope it’s in Judge Bruce Selya’s court. When he throws the book at you, it’s a dictionary.

Frederick Brodie had a lovely bit in last week’s National Law Journal (found via Dan Slater’s post in the WSJ Law Blog) about the linguistic proclivities of the good judge, which seem so straight-up Wordie that I had to turn them into a list. Selya loves ten-cent words (Law Blog, adjusting for inflation, calls them five-dollar words), and has managed to work doozies like philotheoparoptesism, repastinate, sockdolager, and thaumaturgical, among others, into his opinions.

Not exactly plain English, and I can’t help but wonder if a more straightforward style would also be more democratic. But c’mon, sockdolager? Makes me smile.