The Etymology is said to be literal Anglo-French, but I don't easily see
how that's the case.

Which part is Anglo? And which French?
Presumably the "Voir" is Anglo and the "Dire" is French.
But how is "Voir" Anglo?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/20/trump-behavior-court-hush-money-trial
"During voir dire, or when lawyers question jurors about their backgrounds,
Trump was forced to face the opinions of the randomly selected fellow New
Yorkers, some of whom clearly were far from being fans."

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/voir%20dire
a preliminary examination to determine the competency of a witness or
juror

Etymology
Anglo-French, literally, to speak the truth

Ken Blake wrote:

> The Etymology is said to be literal Anglo-French, but I don't easily see
> how that's the case.

> Which part is Anglo? And which French?
> Presumably the "Voir" is Anglo and the "Dire" is French.
> But how is "Voir" Anglo?

A French phrase transported tout suite into English is an "Anglo-French"
fait accomplis?

> https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/20/trump-behavior-court-hush-money-trial
> "During voir dire, or when lawyers question jurors about their backgrounds,
> Trump was forced to face the opinions of the randomly selected fellow New
> Yorkers, some of whom clearly were far from being fans."

> https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/voir%20dire
> a preliminary examination to determine the competency of a witness or
> juror

> Etymology
> Anglo-French, literally, to speak the truth

Ken Blake:
> The Etymology is said to be literal Anglo-French, but I don't easily see
> how that's the case.
>
> Which part is Anglo? And which French?

If you consult the same dictionary, you will find "Anglo-French"
defined as "the French language used in medieval England":

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Anglo-French
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "Just be yourself -- everybody else is taken."
msb@vex.net | --David Crombie

On 23/04/2024 5:43 a.m., Mark Brader wrote:
> Ken Blake:
>> The Etymology is said to be literal Anglo-French, but I don't easily see
>> how that's the case.
>>
>> Which part is Anglo? And which French?
>
> If you consult the same dictionary, you will find "Anglo-French"
> defined as "the French language used in medieval England":
>
> http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Anglo-French
>

(sometimes called Anglo-Norman)
....from which much of our common legal terminology is derived.

Having learned only modern Parisian French in school, I had long assumed
that the "voir" in this expression was the infinitive "to see". So the
expression seemed to add up to "to see (someone) say (something)", which
was not exactly illuminating. But I wasn't interested enough to follow
it up.

Now I find (from OED) that Anglo-French "voir" meant "true" or "truth".
So the expression simply means "to say the truth". This is what is
always required of witnesses, but in this situation it is being required
of potential jurors.

On Tue, 23 Apr 2024 09:45:37 +1200, Ross Clark wrote:

>>> Which part is Anglo? And which French?
>>
>> If you consult the same dictionary, you will find "Anglo-French"
>> defined as "the French language used in medieval England":
>>
>> http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Anglo-French
>>
>
> (sometimes called Anglo-Norman)
> ...from which much of our common legal terminology is derived.
>
> Having learned only modern Parisian French in school, I had long assumed
> that the "voir" in this expression was the infinitive "to see". So the
> expression seemed to add up to "to see (someone) say (something)", which
> was not exactly illuminating. But I wasn't interested enough to follow
> it up.
>
> Now I find (from OED) that Anglo-French "voir" meant "true" or "truth".
> So the expression simply means "to say the truth". This is what is
> always required of witnesses, but in this situation it is being required
> of potential jurors.

Thanks for that clarification of the clarification, which makes much more
sense to me now. I had never heard the term used, and I don't have a French
background - but I'm aware the Normans took over after 1066 and they likely
seeded the legal language from thence.

Thanks!

On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 14:34:39 +0000, LionelEdwards wrote:

>> Which part is Anglo? And which French?
>> Presumably the "Voir" is Anglo and the "Dire" is French.
>> But how is "Voir" Anglo?
>
> A French phrase transported tout suite into English is an "Anglo-French"
> fait accomplis?

Thanks for clarifying that I misinterpreted what it meant to be
"Anglo-French" (as others also stated).

It didn't occur to me that the entire phrase was what was Anglo-French,
as Mark Brader also had clarified for me as
"If you consult the same dictionary, you will find "Anglo-French"
defined as "the French language used in medieval England""

And which Ross Clark succinctly explained...
"(sometimes called Anglo-Norman)"

The Anglo-Norman/French phrase apparently means "speak truth".

Thanks.