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May 1, 2007

This week's theme
Words about words

This week's words
haplography
obiter dictum
asyndeton
verbigeration
brachylogy

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obiter dictum

noun:
1. A passing comment.
2. An observation or opinion by a judge that is incidental to the case in question, and not binding as a precedent.

[From Latin, literally, saying by the way.]

"'Abstract Expressionism was being deployed as a cold war weapon,' (Frances Stonor) Saunders jauntily asserts. ... Obiter dicta like Saunders's pronouncement above highlight her irreducible problem." Josef Joffe; America's Secret Weapon; New York Times Book Review; Apr 23, 2000.

See more usage examples of obiter dictum in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

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