Legal is an adjective that describes something or someone as having to do with or being permitted by the law or system of laws in a country or organization. It may also be used as a noun for items that follow the law. The adverb form is legally.
Legit is slang for legitimate, which is in turn a synonym for legal. Legit can also be used to mean genuine or professional, of real quality. It is also used in the phrase go legit to mean that an organization or person is going to follow the rules or laws when in the past it or he hadn’t.
The first known used of legit as slang was in 1908, but its popularity has increased significantly in the past several decades. Still, the term is slang and should be avoided in formal writing.
Examples
And as of the early minutes of this morning, pot is legal in the District of Columbia. [The Washington Post]
Unlike online sports betting, which is banned in the U.S., for-fee online fantasy sports are legal. [Bloomberg Business]
Upon arrival at the delivery location, call the customer back to confirm the delivery is legit. [FOX 6 WBRC]
“I think all the teams that are ranked right now are legit. I do,” Melbourne coach Brad Soughers said. “They’re solid teams, and we’re all pretty close.” [Florida Today]
How will your business benefit from going legit? Legal, licensed software users enjoy many benefits which are not available to pirate users. [Ventures Africa]
Comments are closed.