If the Grinch got hold of a hymn, this is what it would look like
It seems that even in the festive season, lawyers can’t shake their fun-sucking stereotype, as a picture of a poor, lawyerfied Christmas hymn has come to light.
The pic (below), which has been doing the rounds on Twitter over the past few days, shows the classic Christmas carol ‘While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks’ after it has been given some brutal legal treatment.
Legal Cheek can’t be sure that lawyers are behind this clever editing, but it’s certainly something that they would do.
Brought to our attention by Rob Amour, no line of the hymn lay untouched by the unknown doodlers — who have certainly lived up to the lawyer stereotype of pedantic busybodies.
Highlights include the scribblers asking “can we say glory actually shines?” in reference to the light-hearted line “And glory shone around”, and questioning the clarity of the term “tidings”.
Whoever made the festive green and red jottings seems to have gone on a creative writing course, slamming the carol for its use of passive voice, unnecessary detail, and hyperbole.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. The defaced hymn also features some questionable doodles of what we think are an angel, a tree, a shepherd’s cane, and a lamb.
Not too sure that’s a technique to adopt when writing briefs, but we appreciate the creativity.