The third bank of the river, al lado del camino [by the side of the road], al otro lado del río [across the river]—Guimarães Rosa, Fito Páez, Jorge Drexler. References to the margins are ubiquitous: an aside, a comment in passing, idle talk. For me, these represent the obiter dictum. True, they are not synonymous but can serve as a useful heuristic: an approximation of its nature.