The Difference Between ‘Slander’ and ‘Libel’

The English language has a lot of synonyms and we have a seemingly unnecessary number of words for many particular things or qualities. Some of these redundancies, such as duplicates pervert And warbler, is the result of two separate native languages; others, such as the hundreds of words we have for drunkbest explained by a shake of the head and a shrug.

slander

Although many interchangeably use ‘slander’ and ‘defamation’, the words have distinct meanings—defamation is written, while slander is spoken.

In many cases, it doesn’t make much difference whether a person chooses a word or its synonym, except that some choices may be more elegant or more appropriate to the language one is using (you can write “sorry, i was too drunk,” instead of “sorry I was so drunk“, such as when writing a letter to your grandmother). In other cases, however, it can be very important to choose the wrong choice between two quasi-synonyms. Which brings us to libel And slander.

It should be noted that many people, especially when they are not writing a legal brief, or arguing in court, do not distinguish between the two, placing both of them in the general semantic category of “saying”. or write something untrue about”. someone, to make them look bad.” However, there is a very clear difference between them.

Both libel And slander are forms of defamation, but libel found in print, and slander found in speech. libel refers to a written or oral defamatory statement or representation that unjustly conveys an adverse impression, while slander refers to a false statement made to get people to have a bad opinion of someone. This explanation is very simple, but perhaps because it is so simple many people do not observe the nuance. So we can make it a little more complicated, and maybe that will make it easier to remember.

See more:  It's 'All of a Sudden' (There's No 'The')

It can help a person remember that libel is a form of written libel if it is understood that the word is of Latin origin libellusit is a small number of free, which means “book.” The earliest use libelin the 14th century, meaning “a written statement, bill, certificate, request or supplication.”

slander, unfortunately, there is no such informative source; it comes from latin scandal (“stumble, sin”). If this etymology guide isn’t complex enough to help you remember the difference between these two words, we can always fall back to the old way of making things unnecessarily complicated and gives additional instructions as dogerel:

While both these words can signal that adherence to the truth has been broken, Remember this maxim, If you find yourself a victim,libel written, while slander be said.

Categories: Usage Notes
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn

Leave a Comment