SIDELINED ON THE (JUDICIAL) BENCH - SPORTS METAPHORS IN JUDICIAL OPINIONS

Would you be tempted to take off your gloves for Sunday punch? If so, the sports metaphors that are often used injudicial opinions will be a source of confusion to you. In this lexical analysis of state and fed eral opinions, the use of football, baseball and boxing metaphors is e xamined in light of metaphor theory and the relationship between gende r and the use of metaphors. Use of language, and in particular of spor ts terms, contributes to the perception of law as a game, as competiti on, and as exclusionary of non-team members.