Using Words

Ok, this starts off with two legal terms, AMENDED, versus AMENDMENT.
  An Amendment is an addition to an existing document.
  An Amendment is like a Constitutional Amendment, such as the Second Amendment, which in a general sense, gives Americans the right to own firearms whether or not they are mentally ready to possess them, or physically capable of competently using them.  (see the whole text of the Constitution here.)

An Amended document is a new version of an existing document.
  If you have an existing divorce order, and you want to change that order to have new language in it, you need to amend the existing order.  For example, in the original order you have the ex wife's name being changed to Mary Smith, but it really should have been changed back to Mary Jones, then you need to file and have entered an amended order.
PS.
If you don't have an original document approved by the court, and entered as an order, you cannot file an "amended order" because there is nothing to be amended.   


Now we go to another term often used in affidavits.  NOT, versus NAUGHT.
  At the very end of an affidavit, some sort of sentence is used to indicate that the affidavit is over, and then some sort of signature line with identifying language for who the affiant is comes immediately after.  The two most common forms of this are:
1)  The Affiant Further Says Not.  
     If you interpret what this line says in the English language, the affiant is literally saying the word "not", and that doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
2)  The Affiant Further Says Naught.
     This line makes more sense, as it means that the affiant further says nothing.  Now this seems to be the Olde Englishe sort of language usage, but at least it makes sense.


Now how about we deviate into a complete demonstration of words that people should not use if they do not know what they mean . . .


Aural     v.     Oral     -     I suppose this is better than some, because at least they deal with the senses.
Awful     v.     Offal     -     While both are not so good, one means bad, and the other means poo.
Altar     v.     Alter     -     If you want to altar your paperwork, the courtroom is not the place for it.


Anyway, lots of other homonyms to get to, but this post was just because, once again, someone wanted to amend a document that was never accepted in the first place, and I wanted to write this instead of go to lunch.