Legalese

[Tomisimo]

After reading Marsopa's thread asking for a translation for a legal term, it occurs to me I don't know how to render the term legalese in Spanish. Any ideas? lenguaje de abogados o lenguaje judicial?

[poli]

I would use la jerga de los abogados

Poli

[Alfonso]

I can't be sure of the connotation of the term in English. In Spanish you can use jerga de abogados as Poli said, if it's got a not very good connotation. If you say lenguaje de abogados, lenguaje del derecho or lenguaje jurídico it's more respectful with the language itself.

Anyway, technically speaking, for linguistics, jerga hasn't got a negative connotation. But, who speaks technically?

[Tomisimo]

Thanks Poli and Alfonso.

Originally Posted by Alfonso

In Spanish you can use jerga de abogados as Poli said, if it's got a not very good connotation.

... as Poli said, although it doesn't have a very good connotation.

Legalese doesn't have any negative connotations as far as I know. It's fairly neutral.

[Alfonso]

Thanks a lot, David. Let me explain what I meant, just to check other possibilities out:

• In Spanish you can use jerga de abogados, if it's got a not very good connotation the English term.
• In Spanish you can use jerga de abogados, just in case it's got a not very good connotation the English term.

I Know in these two last sentences, at least, the word order is wrong. OK, but is it acceptable in a colloquial register or when talking? I wrote what came to my mind, but I know I'm thinking Spanishly.

Let's check the English word order:

• In Spanish you can use jerga de abogados, if the English term hasn't got a very good connotation.
• In Spanish you can use jerga de abogados, just in case the English term hasn't got a very good connotation.

Thanks a lot for your help!

[poli]

Originally Posted by Alfonso

Thanks a lot, David. Let me explain what I meant, just to check other possibilities out:

• In Spanish you can use jerga de abogados, if it's got a not very good connotation the English term.
• In Spanish you can use jerga de abogados, just in case it's got a not very good connotation the English term.

I Know in these two last sentences, at least, the word order is wrong. OK, but is it acceptable in a colloquial register or when talking? I wrote what came to my mind, but I know I'm thinking Spanishly.

Let's check the English word order:

• In Spanish you can use jerga de abogados, if the English term hasn't got a very good connotation.
• In Spanish you can use jerga de abogados, just in case the English term hasn't got a very good connotation.

Thanks a lot for your help!

Alfonso,
You weren't thinking Spanishly enough.
Here's how to say it in English, and it would be very similar to Spanish:
In Spanish you can use jerga de abogados, but it doesn't have a very
good connotation (or it's somewhat derogatory)

[Alfonso]

Originally Posted by poli

In Spanish you can use jerga de abogados, but it doesn't have a very good connotation (or it's somewhat derogatory)

Thanks a lot, Poli. I know the easy way to say this. But, what about the more complex sentences I wrote? Are they right?
Thank you for your help!

[Tomisimo]

Originally Posted by Alfonso

I'm thinking Spanishly.

I'd say:
I'm thinking in Spanish.
I'm thinking like a Spanish speaker.
I'm thinking like a Spaniard.

Originally Posted by Alfonso

• In Spanish you can use jerga de abogados, if the English term hasn't got a very good connotation.
• In Spanish you can use jerga de abogados, just in case the English term hasn't got a very good connotation.

Let's see if I understand. What you're saying is:

If the English term (legalese) doesn't have a very good connotation, then in Spanish you can use the term jerga de abogados, which also doesn't have a very good connotation.

The way you've written it isn't very understandable. If you want to say it like this, I'd turn the sentence around and say:

If legalese doesn't have a very good connotation, you can use jerga de abogados, which also has a negative connotation, otherwise try lenguaje jurídico, which is more neutral.

[poli]

...and judicial language sounds more respectful than legalese