The “deep throat” of oral agreements

“Oral” — as in “oral agreement” — is pretty much disappearing, replaced — incorrectly — by “verbal agreement.”

Why incorrectly? Well, etymologically, “oral” (from the Latin oralis, based on os, mouth) means “related to the mouth,” or by extension, speech, so an “oral agreement” meant (and still means) a spoken agreement, one not written down. Since most important agreements are written down, an “oral agreement” has always been a significant special category, particularly in legal matters. Meanwhile, “verbal” (from the Latin verbum, word) includes anything consisting of words–which would of course encompass both spoken and written language. So the phrase ”verbal agreement” is not only broad — it includes spoken agreements and  written contracts — but it incorporates what’s generally a redundancy, since almost all human agreements are made of words. Of course, there are exceptions: semaphor-flag communication, and kisses between new lovers. And to confuse things a bit more, an “unspoken agreement” does have meaning: an agreement arrived at by custom or habit, without being made explicit (like a tacit understanding between neighbors to keep their dogs leashed). 

In any case, ”oral agreement” is now becoming almost universally displaced by ”verbal agreement” — so that “verbal” is used as though it meant “spoken,” at least in this one phrase. The reason is intriguing: I suspect that the word “oral” has become a bit naughty for the front parlor, as it were. After the sexual revolution made open discussion of sex a commonplace, the phrase “oral sex” became more frequently encountered than ever before. Moreover, ”oral” isn’t commonly used, otherwise; in fact – and here’s the key point — in most contexts today, outside of medicine and science, the word “oral” is rarely encountered without “sex” after it. So people – even those who knew what an “oral agreement” was – may have shied away from that phrase. (“Then we reached an oral agreement.” “Where? Behind the stairs?”) And since “verbal” sounded vaguely similar to those who don’t watch language carefully (i.e., most people), it became used as a less socially-charged substitute.

What to do about this? Depends on which way you want to risk embarrassment. You could use the right phrase, perhaps feeling that tinge of impropriety, or give in and use the wrong phrase, knowing you’re displaying (and furthering) ignorance. Your call. In any case, the world is definitely on the road to the wrong usage.