American attorney/lawyer/counsel here. All of these words mean the same, although as Chris points out the word "attorney" is a little more specific since it means someone who is licensed to appear in court. I would also say, though, that this distinction is a bit unclear and practically speaking you are not usually calling yourself a "lawyer" in the U.S. either unless you are licensed to practice. I respectfully disagree with Charles on the meaning of the word "counsel" - I think it is a synonym with attorney and lawyer. The reason that there are three words has to do with the history of English as a hybrid language, borrowing from Old English (Germanic), Norman French, and Latin. Since our system of common law started with the Norman invasion of England in 1066, judges and lawyers would often use three versions of the same word in legal situations. This tradition has continued to the present day, where we use the three words you mention here - lawyer (Old English), attorney (Norman French), and counsel (Latin). You see this in other legal documents too - e.g. "it is ordered, adjudged, and decreed..." This is a good illustration of why English is so complex - it is actually several languages that fused over time into one.

The Third Subject: Pondering Upon the World's General Affairs (the word pondering doesn't take a preposition like "upon")

Hi, I would be thankful to anyone who please would check my translation and correct it in for grammar, punctuations, proper words word choice, etc. Thank you.


The Third Subject: Pondering Upon the World's General Affairs

Pondering upon the general nature of the world prevents a mystical traveler from being involved in matters that are not important. A mystical traveler if always dedicates their thought to the existence and general affairs, like contemplating the creation of the sky, the earth, the reality of the soul, and similar topics. Hence, they will no longer pay attention to their limited desires of their soul. Therefore, they would absolutely cut themselves off from their deceiving passions and desires.

The subject and modifier don't really fit. You correctly point out that "downside" doesn't seem to go with the adjective "steep." If the word "downside" was replaced with the word "cost" or "price," it would be a better sentence. However, I still understand the meaning - I think my brain automatically replaces the word "downside" with "cost."

So, dying to know - was the word in sentence 3 "economical" or "ecumenical?"