Concept of the day

Ornament

12 January 2010, 5.22 CET

Orthogonal.

The U.S. Supreme Court, in Brisco v. Virginia:

MR. FRIEDMAN: I think that issue is entirely orthogonal to the issue here because the Commonwealth is acknowledging –
CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: I’m sorry. Entirely what?
MR. FRIEDMAN: Orthogonal. Right angle. Unrelated. Irrelevant.
CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: Oh.
JUSTICE SCALIA: What was that adjective? I liked that.
MR. FRIEDMAN: Orthogonal.
CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: Orthogonal.
MR. FRIEDMAN: Right, right.

/via TVC (who points out that the Supreme Court has never (thus far) employed this word in an opinion, though lower courts have).