Sotto Voce

Sotto voce (, ; literally 'under the voice') means intentionally lowering the volume of one's voice for emphasis. The speaker gives the impression of uttering involuntarily a truth which may surprise, shock, or offend. Galileo Galilei's (probably apocryphal) utterance "" ("[[And yet it moves|And yet [the Earth] moves]]"), spoken after deciding to recant his heliocentric theory, is a legendary example of a sotto voce utterance.
In law, "sotto voce" on a transcript indicates a conversation heard below the hearing of... meer