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Sunday, September 27, 2015

Only in Canada: Found in a Bawdy House

I recently received from the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General a questionnaire aimed at determining my suitability for jury duty. 

One of the things that disqualifies potential jurors is having been convicted of a criminal offence. 

However, some criminal offences are apparently not as bad as others (and certainly not as bad as being a lawyer, which immediately disqualifies you). If you've been convicted of any of the following odd assortment of vices, you're still good to pass judgement on your fellow Ontarians:
Being nude in a public place [although presumably this is frowned upon if you're actually IN a jury]
Trespassing at night [perhaps daytime trespassers are more wicked???]
Trading in lumbering equipment without consent of owner [???]
Pretending to practice witchcraft
Failing to keep watch while towing person on water skis
You will no doubt be relieved to know that I am innocent as a newborn babe of any of these crimes.

But the "not-so-reprehensible-after-all" crimes that entertained me the most were the ever-so-Canadian
Being found in bawdy house
Transporting a person to a bawdy house
Yes, Canadian law still uses the delightfully antiquated term "bawdy house" for a brothel. How very Shakespearean-sounding. I believe other English-speaking jurisdictions have moved on linguistically (but if "bawdy house" is still in use where you live, please do let me know).

"Bawdy" has a fairly mysterious origin. It is derived from "bawd" ("One employed in pandering to sexual debauchery," the OED tells us primly), which may be a shortening of "bawdstrot", derived from French baudestroyt, literally a bold and shameless strutter.

Another offence on which the jury selection process looks with a lenient eye is "Being found in a gaming/betting house". Canadians must be "found in" gaming and bawdy houses, fairly frequently, because we have even created a noun, "a found-in" (not to be confused with "foundling"), to designate someone charged with one of these offences.

("Honestly, officer, I just stepped in to ask for directions")


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About Me

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Canada's Word Lady, Katherine Barber is an expert on the English language and a frequent guest on radio and television. She was Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary. Her witty and informative talks on the stories behind our words are very popular. Contact her at wordlady.barber@gmail.com to book her for speaking engagements; she can tailor her talks to almost any subject. She is also available as an expert witness for lawsuits.