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

>

>