sea lawyer
1
9.9
- noun
- Offensive
:
[OFENSIVO] sabelotodo
- During the drill, his tendency to argue about the regulations made him the team's biggest sea lawyer.
Examples
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Keep away from him, you noisy sea lawyer!
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The new recruit quickly gained a reputation as a sea lawyer because he always questioned the captain's orders.
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Everyone in the crew tried to avoid discussions with the sea lawyer because he was always ready to dispute the rules.
Synonyms
3
8.1
A person who argues loudly about small unimportant things
1
7.5
A person who follows laws and rules very strictly
1
9.9
A person who often argues about public or political issues
A person who follows rules exactly to spoil the fun or get an advantage
A person who often argues and challenges other people's ideas
How Argumentative
Surface Forms
Morphology
sea + lawyer
The compound 'sea lawyer' is compositionally built from 'sea' + 'lawyer', so learners who know both words can infer it refers to someone in a maritime context who behaves like a lawyer (i.e., argumentative, citing rules). However, the sense 'a sailor who disputes orders' is a specialized, metaphorical extension of the literal components and may not be fully predictable to an average B1 learner without exposure, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The nickname sea lawyer may come from the image of a sailor on the sea who acts like a lawyer, always pointing to the ship's rules and 'arguing' with the captain. That's why the name means 'a sailor who is argumentative and cites rules'.