per contra

****************************************************************
Do your modifiers dangle? Suffering from split infinitives?
Get instant help with our Concise Dictionary of English Usage.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/book.pl?conusg.htm&6
****************************************************************

The Word of the Day for January 30 is:

per contra   \per-KAHN-truh\   adverb
     1 a : on the contrary  *b : by way of contrast 
     2 : as an offset

Example sentence:
     The male peafowl is distinguished by a large fan-shaped 
tail that shimmers with brilliant iridescent color; per contra, 
the female is drab and pallid.

Did you know?
     Luca Pacioli knew a thing or two about keeping the records 
straight. He was a Franciscan friar and mathematician who lived 
during the Italian Renaissance (he was, in fact, a friend of 
Leonardo da Vinci), and he is called the "father of accounting" 
because he was the first to publish a detailed description of 
bookkeeping practices that are still used today. Among his 
other counsel, Pacioli advised merchants to keep an accurate 
ledger with debits entered on the left side and credits on the 
right. The word "per contra" calls to mind this time-honored 
practice of balancing items on one side of a ledger against 
those on the other. The term comes from Italian, and it 
translates literally as "by the opposite side (of the ledger)." 

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.