Word of the Day

: October 1, 2013

Rubicon

noun ROO-bih-kahn

What It Means

: a bounding or limiting line; especially : one that when crossed commits a person irrevocably

Rubicon in Context

The most talented college basketball players come up against a very difficult decision: whether to stay in college or cross the Rubicon and go pro.

"Much of soccer is pantomime, after all, and we all adore a bad guy, but this week he belligerently barged his way across the Rubicon. He revealed a 'how to' list for disgruntled players who want to engineer a transfer out of their club." - From an article by Peter Simpson in the South China Morning Post, August 24, 2013

Did You Know?

In 49 B.C., Julius Caesar led his army to the banks of the Rubicon, a small river that marked the boundary between Italy and Gaul. Caesar knew Roman law forbade a general from leading his army out of the province to which he was assigned. By crossing the Rubicon, he would violate that law. "The die is cast," he said, wading in. That act of defiance sparked a three-year civil war that ultimately left Julius Caesar the undisputed ruler of the Roman world. It also inspired English speakers to adopt two popular sayings -"crossing the Rubicon" and "the die is cast"-centuries later. "Rubicon" has been used in English as the name of a significant figurative boundary since at least the early 1600s.