Word to the Wise: Volte-Face

Volte-face" (vawl-tuh-FAHS) – from the Italian for "turn" + "face" – is a reversal, as in policy or opinion.

Example (as used by L.E. Sissman in The Atlantic): "Suddenly confronted with the imminent ruin of Angela Lyne, his former mistress, who is drinking herself to death out of loneliness, he [Evelyn Waugh] does the first real volte-face of his life by returning to her."

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