Tort came into English straight from French many centuries ago, and it still looks a little

odd. Its root meaning of "twisted" (as opposed to "straight") obviously came to mean
"wrong" (as opposed to "right"). Every first-year law student takes a course in the
important subject of torts. Torts include all the so-called "product-liability" cases, against
manufacturers of cars, household products, children's toys, and so on. They also cover
dog bites, slander and libel, and a huge variety of other very personal cases of injury,
both mental and physical—Torts class is never dull. If you're sued for a tort and lose,
you usually have to pay "damages"—that is, a sum of money—to the person who you
wronged.