Lubricum Linquae Non Facile Trahendum Est In Poena

Latin: the law tends to overlook rash or inconsiderate language spoken in the heat of the moment.

A slip of the tongue is not subject to or, ought not to be lightly subject to punishment.

This Latin maxim is issue from Roman law.

Also sometimes expressed as lubricum linguae non facile in poenam est trahendum.

In a New Dictionary of Quotations, the author described the Latin maxim as:

"A light expression (or, as familiarly called, a slip of the tongue), is not easily punishable, ought not to be rashly or inconsideratly punished.

"Words of heat, such as to call a man a rogue or a knave, etc., will bear no action at law unless they are specifically applied as, in such an afair, to a certain person."

REFERENCES:

• A New Dictionary of Quotations From the Greek, Latin, and Modern Languages: Translated into English, and Occasionally Accompanied with Illustrations, Historical, Poetical, and Anecdotal, with an Extensive Index, Referring to Every Important Word (Philadelphia: Lipincott & Co., 1869), page 263.
• Duhaime, Lloyd, Latin Law Dictionary
• Duhaime, Lloyd, Legal Definition of De Minimis Non Curat Lex