“This is the fundamental axiom of law.”
If so, it’s yet another reason lawyers are a scourge on civilization. If words don’t mean things, then laws, which are made of words, don’t mean things either.
That’s not a place anyone should want to go.
Lawyers have some blame, to be sure. But the fact of the matter is they could not do the damage without help. “The law” is whatever the controlling authority says it is. Courts often toss the plain langugae aside. Any time the plain language directs “the wrong outcome” (this is a matter of whim), the plain lanuage is out the window.