Friday, March 22, 2013

"That is out of my bailiwick."

I just had a woman ask what that expression means. A bailiwick technically is "the office or district of a bailiff." Thus it has become used to mean "a person's specific area of interest, skill, or authority."

The term "bailiff" was first applied in Norman England to the king's officers charged with local administrative authority, such as sheriffs, mayors, hundreders—the chief officer of a territorial hundred—and the first civil officers of the Channel Islands. The term eventually narrowed to refer to an officer of a hundred court, appointed by a sheriff, and who assisted judges at assizes, served process, executed writs, assembled juries, and collected fines in court.

Today, the term is used in a variety of ways for a variety of responsibilities in different countries.

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