It all depends

                               

When it comes to matters of law, a person has a choice to say I will need a lawyer or I will need an attorney. To most people, the two words are identical synonyms without a shade of difference between them.  When second language learners pick up English, one of the questions they ask is if the two words mean the same thing.  If the teacher answers "yes," then the next questions is, "Which word is more common?"  Well, that's a little hard to say.

Sometimes words used in a language are given preferential status by the people.  For example, "Are you through?" is used much more than, "Are you finished?" or more than, "Did you complete the task?"  It's not that the second two phrases aren't used; it's that people have a preference.  Preferential status may also vary by region.  In the state of Rhode Island, a waiter in a restaurant will ask you, "Are you (all) set?" if (s)he wants to know if you are finished ordering or if you are finished with the meal.  They don't prefer, "Are you through?" at all.

So, when it comes to the lawyer~attorney alternation, which term has attained preferential status?  In the 1800s Hemingway, Emerson, Twain, and others represented the educated elite in America.  They thought of words that sounded French, were a French loanword, or that had a French origin as a sign of sophistication.  That philosophy is not prevalent today, but sometimes attitudes toward words have a way of sticking around.  Attorney derives from the French verb meaning "to turn to," while lawyer derives from Anglo-Saxon meaning "one who is the law."  Is it true, then, that French derived attorney sounds more sophisticated than Anglo-Saxon lawyer?  My limited experience in the northeast of the U.S. gave me the idea that they preferred attorney.  My experience in Texas is that the word lawyer is preferred.  And, my travels around the U.S. give me the sense that whichever word is used depends on the person you are speaking to (his/her background, his/her origin, his/her formal training, his/her profession, etc.).

Does it really matter?  Not unless you're a foreign language teacher.  But I have noticed that this kind of alternation occurs in nearly all matters of life. It appears that most everything depends on the people around you and their origin, background, professions, education, and worldview.  And in intimate situations, when compatibility is so important, preferences cannot be overstated.  Choosing compatibility with someone over all other types of bonds that connect people, especially in the intimate situation, is the one point that makes or breaks the friendship or relationship... more than religion only, more than philosophy of life only, more than profession only, more than spending habits only, more than outlook on raising children, treatment of in-laws, on and on.

Anymore if people should ask what I think they should do or not do, I say, "It depends."  People, I think, want to hear some firm and fast principles, but I just don't see that they are there anymore.  Maybe I should ask, "Do you use the word attorney or lawyer?" and then make the point about "it depends."