factoid

[Jonathan Lighter]

When the legend becomes factoid, print the factoid.

JL

On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 12:03 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: factoid
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Nov 16, 2012, at 7:40 AM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>
> > At 11/16/2012 01:29 AM, Laurence Horn wrote:
> >> On Nov 15, 2012, at 7:01 PM, Dave Wilton wrote:
> >>
> >> > Urban dictionary has a decent breakdown of the senses that I've heard:
> >> > http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=factoid
> >> >
> >> > In my experience, their sense #2 is the more common: "A fact that
> >> may or may
> >> > not be true, but is trivial in nature."
> >>
> >> Interesting.  Back in our old unsophisticated days we used to think
> >> that if it wasn't true, it wasn't a fact (however trivial it might
> (not) be.
> >>
> >> LH
> >
> > Not a dilemma, Larry.  -oid = "resembling", so not necessarily having
> > the actual nature of.  Like the suffix -iness.
>
> I wasn't criticizing the applicability of "factoid" to trivial or
> uninteresting facts and non-facts, but on its urban dictionary definition
> above--"A fact that may or may not be true".  It would be like defining a
> humanoid as "a human that may or may not be homo sapiens".  At the same
> time, I fully acknowledge that "fact" has been used in this
> (underspecified) way for decades; I remember being struck ages ago by the
> claim of some politician or other along the lines of "I categorically deny
> the fact that..." (he was involved in some reprehensible skullduggery).
>
>
> LH
>
> > P.S.  My perception is the same as Dave's and Wilson's:  Possibly
> > true, but small.
> >
> > Joel
> >
> >> >
> >> > -----Original Message-----
> >> > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> Behalf Of
> >> > James Harbeck
> >> > Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2012 8:11 PM
> >> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >> > Subject: factoid
> >> >
> >> > I had a debate today about the meaning of "factoid". I'm wondering
> whether
> >> > my sense of what more or less everyone uses it to mean is in fact
> accurate.
> >> > Tell me: what, in your world, does "factoid" mean?
> >> >
> >> > Thanks,
> >> > James Harbeck.
> >> >
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