Real cases
A case · you decide
Docket rules on "irregardless"
Docket — the adjudicator in a teen word-court
A classmate insists "irregardless" isn't a word. Another says it's in the dictionary. Docket calls the case.
Major dictionaries do list "irregardless", with a label: nonstandard. It has been in use for over a century.
A dictionary records how people use words and labels their register. It doesn't hand out permission.
What's Docket's ruling?
The court's ruling goes on the class board: in, but nonstandard. Both sides sign it.
A case · you decide
Usus and Corpa weigh new slang
Usus & Corpa — the voice of descriptivism, working with the evidence-counter
A friend group has been saying "glimbo" for a month. They want it declared a real word.
Corpa checks the evidence: one group, one month, no published uses anywhere else.
Usus agrees that usage makes words, but it has to be broad and lasting.
What does the court rule?
The court files "glimbo" under watch. If it's still around next year, they'll reopen the case.
A case · you decide
Glossa and Docket rule on "literally"
Glossa & Docket — a 17-year-old on a debate team arguing about a word in a speech
In a practice round, Omar says a judge was "literally on fire" about a point. His opponent objects: literally means "actually," so the sentence is wrong. They ask Omar's coach to settle it.
Glossa asks whether the word has settled meanings. Literally has long meant "actually," and for centuries it has also been used as an intensifier.
Docket weighs the evidence. Major dictionaries list both senses, and many add a note that the intensifier use is common but criticised.
How should the coach rule?
Glossa tells you what a word means. Docket tells you how sure you can be.