Writing and arguing

The fourteenth entry, mettere in risalto, is built on a jump. Il risalto is the noun of risaltare, and that verb is re- plus saltare, to leap, so what an Italian writer does to an argument is make it spring back out of the flat surface around it. The picture is still alive elsewhere in the language: saltare agli occhi is said of a thing nobody can miss, and in building work il risalto is the part of a wall that stands proud of the rest. English reached the same idea from another direction. « To highlight » comes out of painting, where the highlights are the brightest touches an artist adds last, so English lights the point up while Italian makes it move. The Latin leap did arrive here as well, in a word few speakers connect with jumping: « salient » is saliens, leaping, and the salient points of a report are precisely the ones an Italian would mettere in risalto. In ordinary prose the translations are « to emphasise », « to bring out » and « to highlight ».