Re: USAGE: Persons unknown
| From: | Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...> |
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| Date: | Friday, March 16, 2007, 14:52 |
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The full phrase is "person or persons unknown", often shortened to
omit the singular for concision (or when it's known to be more than
one person). It's an example of legal jargon calqued from or
influenced by Latin and French phrasing. Legalese has lots of phrases
that seem similarly odd out of context, and thanks to television legal
and police procedural dramas they've entered the general lexicon.
--
Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>
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