sotto voce

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The Word of the Day for October 20 is

sotto voce   \sah-toh-VOH-chee\   adjective or adverb 
    *1 : under the breath : in an undertone; also : in a private manner 
     2 : very softly -- used as a direction in music 

Example sentence: 
     After Hal got up from the table, Marie told me, sotto voce, about the 
surprise party she was planning for him. 

Did you know? 
     It's no secret: in our example sentence, "sotto voce" functions as an 
adverb, modifying the past-tense verb "told." But "sotto voce," which was 
borrowed into English from the Italian word "sottovoce" (literally meaning 
"under the voice"), can also serve as an adjective. That's the role it plays in 
the following sentence: "Marie told me about the party in a sotto voce 
whisper." The adverb sense first appeared in English in the 18th century and 
soon afterward found use in musical directions calling for whispered vocals. 
The adjective sense came about in the early 19th century. 

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.





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