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[-] Hyperi0n@lemmy.film 4 points 1 year ago

The universally accepted meaning is:

a brief or trivial item of news or information

[-] ominouslemon@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

Interestingly, here's what Merriam Webster says about the origin of the word:

We can thank Norman Mailer for factoid: he used the word in his 1973 book Marilyn (about Marilyn Monroe), and he is believed to be the coiner of the word. In the book, he explains that factoids are "facts which have no existence before appearing in a magazine or newspaper, creations which are not so much lies as a product to manipulate emotion in the Silent Majority." Mailer's use of the -oid suffix (which traces back to the ancient Greek word eidos, meaning "appearance" or "form") follows in the pattern of humanoid: just as a humanoid appears to be human but is not, a factoid appears to be factual but is not. The word has since evolved so that now it most often refers to things that decidedly are facts, just not ones that are significant.

[-] Hyperi0n@lemmy.film 1 points 1 year ago

So you decided to ignore the last sentence?

[-] ominouslemon@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

No, I've just looked it up after reading your comment

this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2023
173 points (95.3% liked)

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