Ordinary language as understood within the culture of law is the subject of this chapter. The author examines the treatment of the word ‘vehicle’, as a representative of this class of language, in the major legal dictionaries and in case-law. The blurring of the boundaries between ordinary language and legal language is illustrated. It is argued that there is nothing ordinary about ‘ordinary language’: it is a fiction that is promoted by the courts to meet the interpretive needs of law. Ordinary language is shown to be no more than judge-made language.