Stephanie Arma Kraft, Esq.

[quislet]

So I'm going through today's mail, and I find a letter from the School Board of Broward County. It tells me that I can sign a form to exclude my daughter from the PSAT. Nevermind that I can't think of any good reason to exclude a high school student from a practice PSAT. I suppose someone could have religious objections or something, but then they have to put up with a yearly FCAT standardized test, so what's one more, especially when it's a practice exam for college entry? *sigh*

The amusing part is that the chair of the School Board is Stephanie Arma Kraft, Esq. I find myself wondering if she spends weekends in February and March picking up broken lances at the joust in Quiet Waters. Then, inspired by a glass of shiraz, I google "title esquire" and find this link:

"Dear Straight Dope:

How does a person go about getting the title of Esquire? --apongras

...The answer is that any snob in the world (or at least in the U.S.) can use the title. In fact, "squire" is a contraction of "esquire." I went to Black's Law Dictionary and they say (5th Ed., p. 489): "In Eng. law, a title of dignity above gentleman and below knight. Also a title of office given to sheriffs, serjeants, and and barristers at law, justices of the peace, and others. In the U.S., title commonly after the name of an attorney; e.g., John J. Jones, Esquire." The entry for Gentleman reads: "In its Engl. origin, this term formerly referred to a man of noble or gentle birth; one belonging to the landed gentry; a man of independent means; all above the rank of Yeomen." (Id. at 618.) Knight means: "In Eng. law, the next personal dignity after the nobility." (Id. at 783.)

Now of course in England there's this whole business about hereditary nobility and getting knighted and all that, so it might be a little risky to start calling yourself esquire there. (Although what's going to happen? The Snob Cops arrest you?) But we're not in England, we're in America! The land of the free, the home of the brave! You can call yourself anything you want ... although you do take the risk that you will be thought a snooty jerk. Since this has never bothered lawyers, they have gotten into the habit of calling each other esquire. This is a little like elected officials addressing each other as "honorable," which to me seems a classic case of advertising something after it's gone. But I digress.

Among lawyers, it's thought pretentious if you signs yourself "Esq." in written communications but you are supposed to dignify other lawyers with the appellation. So a lawyer's letters go out, "Yours very truly, Snidely Whiplash" but the envelope comes back addressed to "Snidely Whiplash, Esq." Also, you never put "Ms." or "Mr." in front of the name when you use "Esq." Still, this is strictly custom, and even if you never saw the inside of a law school there's nothing to prevent you from calling yourself esquire ... except the fact that you might be thought a lawyer."

I know this is my third post today, but this brought me joy, and I wanted to share.

Comments

[satismagic.livejournal.com]

MWUAHAHAHA!

Joy indeed! Thank you for sharing.