The above examples suggest that “legal eagle” was ubiquitous in American slang at a time (1944) when “legal beagle” was just coming out of the door – at least as a popular term. But “legal eagle” and “legal beagle” appear at least in some versions of the lyrics of Wildflower, a musical that enjoyed considerable success in the United States and abroad after its debut in 1923. In Wildflower, the character of Gaston La Roche (or Larotta) presents himself as both a brilliant lawyer (a “legal eagle”) and an intelligent detective (a “legal beagle”). Legal eagle n. A dedicated or cunning and extremely knowledgeable lawyer. In the People magazine issue of 5. In February 1977, Jim Jerome wrote about Rod Stewart in the article “Da Ya think I`m Sexy?” In the first paragraph, the reference to Rod Stewart`s separation from Britt Ekland, with whom he was associated for a period of two years, mentioned a lawsuit and legal representation that ensured Britt Ekland. Wentworth & Flexner places both terms in the subcategory of “intentional rhyme terms and jive” of “rhyme terms and rhymed slang” – and that certainly seems reasonable. But the dictionary takes no position on whether “legal beagle” comes from “legal eagle.” Now Electric Traction Hole-In-One Club, has a “legal eagle” A. L. Vencill, of the legal department of the Union Switch and Signal Company, negotiated a hole in a shot at the Edgewood Country Club, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on June 19, 1928. The Legal Eagle/Legal Beagle situation is what linguists call redundant with others, including fuddy-duddy, hoity-toity, namby-pamby, and wishy-washy.
While Idiomation would like to be able to definitively link Legal Eagle or Legal Beagle to a specific date — or even decade — as far as lawyers are concerned, the next thing the idiomation can determine is that both expressions, as far as lawyers and their skills are concerned, most likely found their way into English from the mid to late 1930s. Sometimes a profession is known by a nickname that is actually complementary, and this is the case with the term legal beagle, which refers to a lawyer, especially one who is sharp. skillful and insightful. In fact, the term is so respected that there is a Legal Beagle website that (according to their website) strives to be “an excellent source of legal information based on facts and procedures.” Ultimately, it`s a compliment to call a lawyer a legal beagle. Further research shows that Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II wrote the lyrics for Wildflower, which opened in New York City on February 7, 1923; the name “legal eagle” appears in some productions such as “Gaston Larotta” instead of “Gaston La Roche”. The corresponding text can be found in the “Act One Finale” of the musical: the term “legal beagle” also appears in the November 1, 1946 issue of Princeton Alumni Weekly, while “legal eagle” appears twice in the same general period – in the February 14, 1947 issue and the May 16, 1947 issue. A newcomer, Charles Zoll, appeared as Gaston La Roche, a bumpy upstart in a noisy plaid suit, a “legal eagle” with a gun in his hand, whose ingenious plans to irritate Nina were thwarted by his own jealous quarrels with Lucrezia. BIANCA AND ALBERTO: He will hunt them like a beagle. As for the “legal eagle”, Australians show no sign that they have adopted it as an alternative to “legal eagle” or as a separate term. In the United States, the “legal beagle” is showing signs that it took hold around 1946, suggesting that it may have turned out to be a pleasant variant of “legal eagle” after the term became firmly established in American slang.
The use of the term in advertisements for Perry Mason`s detective novels may have helped him become more popular. Lighter isn`t suggesting that the legal beagle was born in response to the legal eagle as an even more joking term, but I think it probably was. Harold Wentworth & Stuart Flexner, Dictionary of American Slang, first edition (1960), attributes slightly different meanings to the two terms: J.E. Lighter, Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang (1997) gives the first citations from 1939 for “legal eagle” and 1949 for “legal beagle”. Both terms have the same definition: the term legal beagle is hard to find before the 1940s, but the idiom found the term legal eagle in the book “The Little Lawyer and Legal Adviser” by Napa and San Jose. Attorney Henry Alexander Gaston (August 9, 1823 – unknown) described at the beginning of the book as a former member of the California legislature and former president of the Nevada State Assembly. His book was published in 1880 with the help of A.L. Bancroft and Company at 721 Market Street in San Francisco, CA. In this book, the term Legal Eagle was explained to readers.
Rod, a 34-year-old bachelor, was sued for $15 million by one of his many ex-ladies, Britt Ekland, aided by the legal eagle who also shot Lee Marvin. However, Rod settled out of court before the case went to court. Lloyd Paul Stryker, the legal eagle, landed a client last week who had not only already confessed and pleaded guilty, but had also been convicted and convicted. In fact, after thinking about it, Mr. Stryker decided that while the case was a great challenge, it had its drawbacks, and he withdrew. 1. Is the Beagle variant a play on words, a moon green or an eggspeck? The research also uncovered an American Bar Center book published by the American Law Student Association in 1958. There were three entries worth mentioning in this book: one was a publication called “Legal Eagle” at American University, the second was a publication called “Legal Beagle” at Washington College of Law, and the third was “The Legal Eagle” at North Carolina College.
A few years earlier, in one of the 1952 American Eagle newsletters, the term Legal Eagle appeared in a short blurb about one of the well-known men in the forest products industry. At least for the world in prison, we believe we can assume three reasons for synonyms: first, a basic human pleasure in puns, which creates rhyming slang such as legal eagle or legal beagle; secondly, the vast inventory of names that already exist in the American language, from which, for example, black names originate; and, finally, those arising from the particular problems of daily prison life. However, Google Books returns several matches older than the second Wiktionary match, which dates back to 1947. The oldest of these games is that of Wildflower, which has already been mentioned, although there are some doubts as to whether the lyrics containing “legal beagle” were included in the original version of the musical. I`m not a legal beagle, not even a lawyer like Downing, but I served 28 sessions in the Oklahoma legislature during recessions and even a depression, so if they think this last session was the “hardest ever,” it only underscores how little they know. SIDE NOTE 1: Sometimes the term Legal Eagle is used instead of Legal Beagle. Both terms are sometimes replaced by the phrase Philadelphia lawyer! Since that episode [featuring a doctor pointing out numerous flaws in descriptions of Queen`s medical practice in a detective novel], Dannay and Lee have gotten into the habit of checking medical details with their GP before publication. They also hire a lawyer to clarify them in legal matters; At one point, his legal eagle struggled non-stop for two days and nights to get out of a problem with a complicated will.