what's the difference between counterpart, duplicate and copy, when you're talking about contracts? i'm translating a chinese text (for pay! aha, bilingualism v. landlord. one to me, i think.) where two parties are signing a contract and a secretarial type comes along with the paperwork and says, here are two copies of the contract for signing, here's one for you and one for you." now, what do you call those two pieces of paperwork? are they two copies? does that give the impression of having run something off the photocopier? counterparts? how does one stress the originality or authenticity of the document, anyway? original contract in duplicate? and is that unidiomatic anyway? and is the contract, even in two copies, perhaps considered one document legally and grammatically? clearly hunting up things in a book about comparative chinese-english legal terminology is the proper, responsible, scholarly way to do it, but as i have quite a lot left of the text to be getting on with the right way is to be avoided if word of mouth yields an answer. i'll stand you a toscanini/christina's/island creamery/capogiro/whatever's in your area ice-cream when i get paid.