The word “questionable” has multiple definitions, with its current usage meaning the opposite of objectionable. Its original meaning was related to meetings and debates, and in legal usage, it may still be applicable. The word’s mutable nature reflects the ever-changing English language.
The word, questionable, has several definitions that are questionable in themselves. In common usage, the word has often been used to describe a subject that no longer requires debate. Reverend Jessie Jackson was often teased on Saturday Night Live in the early 1990s for her sonorous line, “The question is moot.”
The current usage of this term differs significantly from the initial usage by the Anglo-Saxons, from which the word derives. Moot meant a meeting, often a town meeting, and could be written as “mot”. This is not to be confused with the French mot, which means word. Questionable questions may arise in a meeting. The controversial was the forum for resolving the topics under discussion and thus leads to the definition as a debatable or debatable point.
Clearly, current usage has resulted in the word meaning the very opposite of objectionable or objectionable. Instead it is a full stop, implying that discussion and debate took place before an issue was made moot. However, in legal usage, the original definition may be more applicable.
For example, attending contentious courts is a frequent exercise of law students. The term can sometimes be used synonymously with a simulated process. In a moot court, students can debate and debate issues. Often, a mock trial is different because it tends to argue matters of fact in front of a mock jury. In a contentious court, students are more likely to discuss the details of a point of law that may be of current interest, presenting legal briefs and also oral arguments.
To confuse matters, in point of law, a moot point is one that a judge does not consider, since it was previously established by another judge. In this case, the word is synonymous with Reverend Jackson’s use of the term. It is theorized in both law and common parlance, the term may actually be more closely related to the term dumb. A point that is no longer debatable essentially deserves silence or no response. It is mute or silent and no longer requires discussion or debate.
The word “questionable” tends to demonstrate the slippery and mutable nature of the English language. A word that has opposite definitions suggests that our language is constantly in flux. Ultimately, it is assumed that the use of the word will tend towards a definition, as it now tends towards the definition of not requiring debate. However, this point is debatable.
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