Talk:Outlaw

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An example of such criminals would would the famous Xodus and Snyper who became famous after years of being chased by the law and never being caught.

removed from the lead because Xodus and Snyper, whoever they are, do not appear to be all that famous. —Charles P. (Mirv) 22:47, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Does anybody have a cite for this 'couthutlaugh' word? I can't find any references to it anywhere.

I think it's someone having a couthutlaugh at our expense; zero Google references besides copies of this page. Ergo, removed. I haven't bothered looking it up in real books; couthutlaugh person, please cite your sources. Kiscica 20:49, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

...On second thought, I checked the history and found that the article has referred to 'couthutlaugh' since its creation by Ihcoyc; it seems highly unlikely that he would have intentionally introduced a spurious word. I am going to leave a message at his talk page asking for clarification; I still feel that a citation needs to be given if such an exceedingly obscure word is to remain in the article. Kiscica 21:05, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

OK, so the word is real; I found it (as couthutlaughe) in the OED:

[app. an early ME. repr. of an OE. cú{th} útla{asg}a known outlaw.] A term applied, according to Bracton, to a person knowingly harbouring or concealing an outlaw; or perhaps, more properly, to the offence of doing so. c1250 BRACTON III. II. xiii. (Rolls) II. 336 Talem [exulem] vocant Anglici utlaughe..[Utlagatus] aut potest esse notus et cognitus vel ignotus et incognitus; et unde qui notum et cognitum receptaverit pari p{oe}na puniendus est, qui dicitur Couthutlaughe [MSS. v.rr.: see above]. 1607 COWELL Interpr., Coutheutlaughe is he that willingly receiveth a man outlawed..and hideth him. [Hence, 1641 in Termes de la Ley, 1656 BLOUNT, and later Dicts.] [Known only in loc. cit.; the OE. term represented is not recorded. It is not easy to comprehend that the term ‘known outlaw’ could originally designate the harbourer; prob. the word is the fragment of a phrase designating the harbouring of a known outlaw; it has been suggested that the meaning might be ‘acquaintance or familiar of an outlaw’, but this would be in OE. útla{asg}an cú{th}a, or perh. cú{th}a útla{asg}an.]

It's awfully obscure, though -- entirely confined to legal dictionaries, if I read the above right. Kiscica 23:38, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

This would almost be the legal version of a Nihilartikel. There seems to be little evidence that the word was ever used by practicing lawyers to designate an outlaw's accomplice. It got into an ancient treatise, and duly copied from the thirteenth century forward. Since Bracton is quoting an Anglo-Saxon word in Latin, and may have misunderstood or bungled it, its status as a legit English word is iffy as well. It can safely be omitted; it's one of those obscure bits of trivia that sticks in the mind, and that's how it got into the article from the beginning. Smerdis of Tlön 04:40, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Ay wud it doo?? From the West Texas!! Mkayla:-) <3