Final answer:
The term 'curtal' refers to a horse with a docked tail, indicating how legal and literary English is filled with antiquated expressions and terms with historical roots.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term curtal comes from the English word meaning 'a horse with its tail docked'. It is related to the literary and historical context of words and their evolutions. The legal and literary texts often contain such antiquated expressions as well as terms derived from other languages and cultures, such as Latin or French influences in the case of American legal English. In the same way, 'curtal' has its roots in history and pertains to a time when certain traits or characteristics of animals were given specific attention and names in the English language.