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Chapter 11. Drinking and crime

Negotiating intoxication in courtroom discourse, 1720 to 1913
  • Claudia Claridge
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Corpus-based Research on Variation in English Legal Discourse
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch Corpus-based Research on Variation in English Legal Discourse

Abstract

This chapter investigates how drunkenness is presented during criminal proceedings in courtroom speech by focusing on words meaning ‘drunk’. A wide range of drunken terms are used by all courtroom participants, which differ in force, euphemistic potential and style, and are thus employed to negotiate degrees of drunkenness in the interaction between legal professionals and lay participants. Fairly common amplification and rarer downtoning of these terms also contribute to their use in courtroom argumentation. The referents of drunkenness expressions are most often third persons, rarely the addressee, but fairly commonly also the speakers themselves. Victims and defendants often attribute drunkenness to themselves, apparently presenting it as a mitigating factor in the context of the crime. In contrast, the insistent questioning on that topic and the frequent usage of drunk terms by judges speaks for a more negative assessment of drunkenness by professionals.

Abstract

This chapter investigates how drunkenness is presented during criminal proceedings in courtroom speech by focusing on words meaning ‘drunk’. A wide range of drunken terms are used by all courtroom participants, which differ in force, euphemistic potential and style, and are thus employed to negotiate degrees of drunkenness in the interaction between legal professionals and lay participants. Fairly common amplification and rarer downtoning of these terms also contribute to their use in courtroom argumentation. The referents of drunkenness expressions are most often third persons, rarely the addressee, but fairly commonly also the speakers themselves. Victims and defendants often attribute drunkenness to themselves, apparently presenting it as a mitigating factor in the context of the crime. In contrast, the insistent questioning on that topic and the frequent usage of drunk terms by judges speaks for a more negative assessment of drunkenness by professionals.

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Chapter 1. “Why may not that be the skull of a lawyer?” English legal discourse past and present 1
  5. Part I. Cross-genre and cross-linguistic variation
  6. Chapter 2. English and Italian land contracts 25
  7. Chapter 3. Conditionals in spoken courtroom and parliamentary discourse in English, French, and Spanish 51
  8. Chapter 4. Part-of-speech patterns in legal genres 79
  9. Chapter 5. A comparison of lexical bundles in spoken courtroom language across time, registers, and varieties 105
  10. Chapter 6. “It is not just a fact that the law requires this, but it is a reasonable fact” 123
  11. Part II. Diachronic variation
  12. Chapter 7. Are law reports an ‘agile’ or an ‘uptight’ register? 149
  13. Chapter 8. Interpersonality in legal written discourse 171
  14. Chapter 9. The evolution of a legal genre 201
  15. Chapter 10. The representation of citizens and monarchy in Acts of Parliament in 1800 to 2000 235
  16. Chapter 11. Drinking and crime 261
  17. Name index 287
  18. Subject index 291
https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.91.11cla

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Chapter 1. “Why may not that be the skull of a lawyer?” English legal discourse past and present 1
  5. Part I. Cross-genre and cross-linguistic variation
  6. Chapter 2. English and Italian land contracts 25
  7. Chapter 3. Conditionals in spoken courtroom and parliamentary discourse in English, French, and Spanish 51
  8. Chapter 4. Part-of-speech patterns in legal genres 79
  9. Chapter 5. A comparison of lexical bundles in spoken courtroom language across time, registers, and varieties 105
  10. Chapter 6. “It is not just a fact that the law requires this, but it is a reasonable fact” 123
  11. Part II. Diachronic variation
  12. Chapter 7. Are law reports an ‘agile’ or an ‘uptight’ register? 149
  13. Chapter 8. Interpersonality in legal written discourse 171
  14. Chapter 9. The evolution of a legal genre 201
  15. Chapter 10. The representation of citizens and monarchy in Acts of Parliament in 1800 to 2000 235
  16. Chapter 11. Drinking and crime 261
  17. Name index 287
  18. Subject index 291
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Heruntergeladen am 8.9.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/scl.91.11cla/html
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