volte-face

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The Word of the Day for March 8 is:

volte-face   \vawlt-FAHSS\   noun
   : a reversal in policy : about-face

Example sentence:
     The provisional government's volte-face on holding special 
elections in June instead of October took everybody by surprise.

Did you know?
     Today, English speakers can choose between "volte-face" and 
the more English-sounding "about-face," but that wasn't always 
the case. Although foot soldiers have been stepping smartly to 
the command "To the right about face! Forward march!" for 
centuries, "about-face" didn't appear as a figurative noun 
meaning "a reversal of attitude, behavior, or point of view" 
until the 20th century. On the other hand, we've been using the 
noun "volte-face" with this meaning since at least 1819. "Volte-
face" came to us by way of French from Italian "voltafaccia" 
(from "voltare," Italian for "to turn," and "faccia," 
meaning "face").