Quote:
Originally posted by His High Holiness
Quote:
Originally posted by bob jenkins
Factoid: A piece of unverified or inaccurate information that is presented in the press as factual, often as part of a publicity effort, and that is then accepted as true because of frequent repetition
(From dictionary.com)
I've always thought it was interesting that CNN (?) called all those brief snippets "factoids" -- it was the first time I'd seen such widespread acknowledgement from the media that the information was unverified or innacurate. I was also amused that the very fact that they called it a "factoid" caused so many people to think that meant it must be true.
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Bob;
The word factoid has recently evolved into something else. Go to the following url to take a look. In short, the word has come to mean a useless or trivial fact. I believe that this is the definition that CNN is using.
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=factoid
Peter
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I'm aware that the usage has changed. I think it only changed, though, because CNN used it "incorrectly".
I'm also not arguing against the change -- it happens all the time. One not-so-recent example is the word "awful" it used to mean "full of awe" -- a church described as "awful" was a compliment. Then "someone" (one can imagine a group of schoolkids on a field trip here) started using it sarcastically ("yeah, awful -- gag, cough, yeck" and now the word means just the opposite.
One can imagine the day when calling someone "His High Holiness" is a real insult.
Wed Feb 09, 2005, 05:30pm
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