"legend" = fascinating true story

[Jonathan Lighter]

OED has "legend" (a famous actual person) back to 1918. The following is undoubtedly a development of that:

  2001 _Tales of the Gun_ (History Channel TV): William F. Cody....His life was part legend, part fabrication.

  As usual, there are various ways of going into denial about this, but the context entirely supports the idea of "fascinating true story."   Possibly we should add "widely-known as a result of publicity" to the definition.

  Buffalo Bill, of course, was more than just a shadowy, possibly historical figure.

  JL



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