14 Comments
User's avatar
David Perlmutter's avatar

"If someone acts on your behalf, they are doing what you would do in their place."

One modern version of this occurs at entertainment award shows when an announced winner is not in attendance at the ceremony, for various reasons. The presenter will say something like: ["Winner's name] cannot be with us; I accept the award on [their] behalf". Or they send a surrogate to the ceremony to accept the award if they win, as what happened when Marlon Brando won Best Actor for "The Godfather" in 1973 and an Indigenous woman refused to accept the award on his behalf.

Expand full comment
Andrew Smith's avatar

Oh yes, classic!

The word "surrogate" brings up another really good example of someone attempting to produce a human (or, rather, do their part to make sure a human pops out) on behalf of another person. Maybe that's more than half.

Expand full comment
Daniel Nest's avatar

"You're my bee half!" is also a somewhat passable pick-up line if you're a bee.

Expand full comment
Andrew Smith's avatar

This is only to bee eclipsed by my memories of "Bee my valentine" from elementary school. I was a player and didn't even know it with those clever cards.

Expand full comment
Daniel Nest's avatar

You say you were "A-player," I'd say you were a "Bee-player" at best!

Expand full comment
Andrew Smith's avatar

Where my head is going now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWuAIS7Vs_M

Expand full comment
Daniel Nest's avatar

"Watch this, Lis, you can actually pinpoint the second when his heart rips in half."

Expand full comment
Andrew Smith's avatar

Damn, I am already reliving my 6th grade trauma every day by remembering this stuff!

Expand full comment
Andrew Sniderman 🕷️'s avatar

I feel like lawyers would throw down some Latin for this one

Expand full comment
Andrew Smith's avatar

I'm so glad I spent so much time learning Latin last year. Now, whenever someone says something with big Latin roots that might sound really impressive, I can just translate it into like "big circle" or whatever the thing really means.

Expand full comment
Andrew Sniderman 🕷️'s avatar

I bet you could pass the bar now. The one I discovered last year working through my Dad’s Trust is ‘In stirpes’ or ‘per stirpes’ which is kinda this. It can mean ‘all my children’ which was also my babysitters favorite soap opera.

Expand full comment
Andrew Smith's avatar

I forced myself to take a contract law course (online only; I'm not THAT much of a masochist) a few years ago when we were considering franchising as a pathway to expansion. I do think it was a good use of my time.

Expand full comment
Andrew Sniderman 🕷️'s avatar

I've always thiught Franchises were an interesting business model. I worked at a few. They didn't do so well. But done right can be wildly successful. You decided not to?

Expand full comment
Andrew Smith's avatar

Yes. Way too much legal hoopage. We felt like it would create unintended liabilities, and ultimately it was just easier to have a team of bespoke businesses kind of tied under one umbrella. Only, that didn't work out exactly either, so we have a slightly different schematic today.. but it works!

Expand full comment