So, I'm reading a judicial opinion from another jurisdiction today and I stumble (literally) across the word "pretermit." First question I have is, how do I pronounce it? Pree-ter-mit? Pree-ter-mit? Pree-ter-mit? Next question I have is, what does it mean? Several seconds go by and I realize, several seconds have gone by and I haven't moved off the word. Now I ain't never been formally trained as no writer. I just picked it up in my schoolin.' But shouldn't we refrain from using words that halt the reader dead in her tracks? In fairness, pretermit does have a legal definition, when one pretermits, i.e., omits, a child from a will. Maybe I wouldn't have stumbled if the word was used in that context. Instead, it was used as follows: "Having reached a decision on the first issue that disposes of the case, we pretermit to consider defendant's other issues." Seems to me that "decline to consider" would work just as well, and be much gentler on the reader. But I digress, as I should really get back to reading the rest of the opinion.
