Pam Nelson at Triangle Grammar Guide answers a question I never even thought about.  What is the difference between concrete and cement: 


She got this information from Wisegeek, which is a great resource for anyone who is curious. 

Word of the Day has a great word for lawyers today. I doubt that we can ever use this word in a brief. We should, however, all keep this word in mind so that no one can use it about our briefs.

Merriam Webster has released the list of the top ten words based on "online lookups."
The words provide an interesting reminder of the events that stole our attention in 2005. For example, the top ten include "levee,"� "refugee,"� "tsunami,"� and "pandemic."� Do those words bring back memories? The only one the surprised me was "insipid."  What did I miss?

When I was in law school, I wasted a lot of time wondering how big a library would have to be to hold all the reporters and codes in the next twenty years. I do not think about that much any more because I rarely go to a library. But someone still thinks about it. Did you know that the 1958 edition of the U.S. Code had 10 volumes and the 2000 edition had 34 volumes. (No, I was not in law school in 1958). The 1960 CFR had 54 volumes while the 2005 CFR had 230 volumes. For more details, see here.

Ever wondered about how or why decision are published or included on Westlaw or Lexis. The bloggers at Reference Question of the Week answered it this way.
It must be noted, however, that the Supreme Court last week approved a change to the rules that would require even unpublished opinions to be precedent. You can read the proposed rule here. The amendment -- as well as amendments to other rules -- will go into effect in December unless Congress takes some action.
I am looking at all of the amendments and gathering comments on their effects and will publish more on that subject later.