Law construes things according to common possibility or intendment.

Explanation

(English-origin maxim.) Legal instruments are construed according to what is ordinarily possible and intended, not according to far-fetched or improbable constructions.

Where this applies

• A deed says the property extends "to the old creek bed," and the court interprets this as the creek bed everyone in town knows about, not some ancient waterway that dried up centuries ago.
• A contract says delivery must happen "promptly," and the court reads that as a reasonable business timeframe — not within sixty seconds, as one party absurdly claims.
• A will leaves money "to my children," and the court construes this to mean biological and legally adopted children, which is the ordinary understanding, not stepchildren the testator never mentioned.