Date: Fri, 22 Dec 1995 10:25:41 -0500

From: SETH SKLAREY crissiet[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]IPOF.FLA.NET

Subject: Re: sidebar



I've always heard sidebar used in the legal context, i.e. a conversation

among all

sides in a legal trial but out of earshot of the jury and usually of the

audience.

I presume that originally there was a "bar" in a courtroom and attorneys were

considered "members of the bar." Also there is the phrase "bar none" but I

presume

that is a different context.



SETH SKLAREY

crissiet[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ipof.fla.net



David's entry of sidebar as "aside" is related to, but slightly

different from the most common referent I've seen for it in the past two

years, namely a boxed (often with different-shaded background) commentary

expanding on a point mentioned in an article in a journal. Usually the

sidebar is set to the right or left side of the page, though occasionally

it may be placed across the bottom. The place I've encountered the term

most often is PC Magazine.



This meaning of the word has been journalist (newspaper) jargon for decades.

Maybe it's now breaking out into general consciousness, like op-ed and

gaydar.



- Allan Metcalf