Hallmark trend expert on "truthiness"

[Benjamin Zimmer]

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/living/14106594.htm
Kansas City Star, 03/19/2006

'Truthiness' is on the rise
JACKIE WHITE

Here's a Scrabble test for you.
It is sort of a fact. It may be true, but it could be enhanced,
dramatized or glamorized. The word that really isn't a word is, of
course, "truthiness."
Stephen Colbert launched it on his Comedy Central show. The American
Dialect Society named it "word of the year," according to Time
magazine. It has been part of the discussion about James Frey's
controversial memoir, A Million Little Pieces. And New York Times
columnist Frank Rich used it to reference Nick and Jessica's MTV
marriage, Time says.
But now it's official. It is an emerging trend for 2006, says Hallmark
trend expert Marita Wesely-Clough. In her recent report on 2006 and
beyond, she calls it "the next wave in news reporting."
It is not fiction and, unlike "facty," not precisely true. It likely
refers to what people may have "wanted to see happen," she says. Think
made-for-TV movies or political speeches.
Then consider "factiness." The trend analyst says it may be accurate,
objective and true but "not quite as interesting as truthiness," which
is gaining greater acceptance.
But does it matter?
With the instant accessibility of media and the rise of blogs, chat
rooms and infomercials, Wesely-Clough says it will become more
difficult to separate opinion and perception from real facts.

-----

Hallmark press release:
http://pressroom.hallmark.com/trends_2006.html



--Ben Zimmer

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org