When you want to sound ridiculously academic, pick the rare term "obiter dicta" to label the things people say about what ought (and ought not) to be done, without any particular authority. Like, "Everyone should eat breakfast; it's the most important meal of the day." (Says who?) And "You can't end a sentence with a preposition." (Why not?) And "No one can get all their essential amino acids from a vegetarian diet." (Challenge accepted.) 

You might talk about someone's obiter dicta: "This narrator's obiter dicta are driving me nuts." Or, you might talk about people issuing, spouting off, accepting, or ignoring obiter dicta: "This narrator keeps peppering the story with obiter dicta."

When you call certain comments obiter dicta, your tone might be annoyed and dismissive, but it could be amused and cheerful. Here's the New York Times: "Mr. Hens is sometimes best when he goes off-topic, dispatching obiter dicta. He is brutal about the Midwest. ('The most insignificant city in the United States is Columbus, Ohio.')"

And if you prefer, you can put it in italics to indicate that it's Latin: "No one is reading her daily obiter dicta over on X." 

"'Better without [whiskey] when fever is violent,' opined the medical attendant, and Augustus, albeit doubtfully, accepted the obiter dicta, as from one who should know." 
  — P. C. Wren, Cupid in Africa, 1920

"Hersey and Wolfe were given to issuing restrictive obiter dicta about nonfiction writing. Wolfe declared that the miracle of New Journalism depended on writers 'resorting as little as possible to sheer historical narrative,' a rule he broke repeatedly in his own work. Hersey maintained that, 'in fiction, the writer's voice matters; in reporting, the writer's authority matters.'"
   — Nicholas Lemann, The New Yorker, 22 April 2019

has this page helped you understand "obiter dictum"?

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Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "obiter dictum" without saying "an unauthoritative opinion" or "an oh-by-the-way comment."

try it out:

In The Guardian, Robert McCrum argues that the writer F. Scott Fitzgerald is "endlessly quotable," someone "whose obiter dicta became the soundtrack of his times. For instance: 'There are no second acts in American lives.' And: 'All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath.'"

With these Fitzgerald quotes in mind as examples, talk about someone else (maybe another writer, or an actor, poet, musician, politician, or activist) whose obiter dicta has strongly influenced our culture.

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for April: Word Choice Chuckles!

I'll give you a snippet of text that I spotted in the wild, with a word or phrase removed. See if you can fill one in that'll give the reader a chuckle. (Here are some examples.) Be cheesy. Be punny. Get in there and make me proud.

Try this one today:

"Beehives are the _____ for a city's microbial secrets" 
 — Jocelyn Solis-Moreira, Popular Science, 31 March 2023

Meaning of the missing word: "key."

To see one possible answer, scroll all the way down.

review this term:

1. The opposite of an OBITER DICTUM could be

A. a threat or an ultimatum.
B. a humorous exaggeration.
C. a statement of fact or law.

2. In the Washington Post, David Von Drehle expands on the definition of "obiter dicta" to include "_____."

A. leaked drafts, radical rulings, and gossamer assurances
B. jadedness, law schools, and promptly-forgotten Latin phrases
C. stray thoughts, wishful thinking, rhetorical flourishes, or blah, blah, blah

Answers to the review questions: 1. C 2. C From the game: "Beehives are the honeypot for a city's microbial secrets"   — Jocelyn Solis-Moreira, Popular Science, 31 March 2023

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.