Thursday 5 March 2009

Chattels or not Chattels, that is the question

During everyday English conversation, do normal people ever ever use the word “chattels”? I don’t believe so, which is why while visiting some friends, I had to take this picture of a notice from their building's management company.



“Chattels” is essentially a legal term defined as: “Personal property, movable or immovable, which is less than a freehold; for example, a book, a coat, a pencil, growing corn, a lease.”
The mind boggles at what kinds of chattels are being thrown out of the building.

In all fairness (even though the copywriter did not intend to draw attention by showing off her thesaural prowess), I suppose the ordinary headline “Objects Thrown from Height” would not have had the same impact on native English speakers.

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