Editing Factoid

{{Short description|Invented claim or trivial fact}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
[[File:Mur chiński 2010 1.JPG|thumb|A common factoid is the incorrect claim that the [[Great Wall of China]] is [[Artificial structures visible from space|visible from space with the naked eye]].]]
A '''factoid''' is either a false statement presented as a fact,<ref>{{Cite web|title = factoid: definition of factoid in Merriam-Webster Dictionary (US)|url = http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/factoid|website =Merriam-Webster |access-date = November 14, 2015}}</ref><ref name="oxforddictionaries.com">{{Cite web|title = factoid: definition of factoid in Oxford dictionary (American English) (US)|url = http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/factoid|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130614033704/http://oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/factoid|url-status = dead|archive-date = June 14, 2013|website = Oxford Dictionaries Online |access-date = July 13, 2015}}</ref> ''or'' a true but brief or [[trivia]]l item of news or information.

The term was coined in 1973 by American writer [[Norman Mailer]] to mean a piece of information that becomes accepted as a fact even though it is not actually true, or an invented fact believed to be true because it appears in print.<ref name=twsTimeMag>[[Paul Dickson (writer)|Dickson, Paul]] (April 30, 2014). [https://time.com/82601/the-origins-of-writerly-words/ "The origins of writerly words"]. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''. Retrieved November 14, 2015.</ref> Since the term's invention in 1973, it has become used to describe a brief or trivial item of news or information.

==Usage==
The term was [[neologism|coined]] by American writer [[Norman Mailer]] in his 1973 biography of [[Marilyn Monroe]].<ref name=TheGuardian>{{cite news|first=David |last=Marsh|date=January 17, 2014|work=The Guardian| url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2014/jan/17/mind-your-language-factoids |title=A factoid is not a small fact. Fact: A factoid is subtly different from a trivial fact, whatever Steve Wright may claim| access-date= June 16, 2014}}</ref> Mailer described factoids as "facts which have no existence before appearing in a magazine or newspaper",<ref>{{cite book |last=Mailer |first=Norman |title=Marilyn: A Biography |publisher=Grosset & Dunlap |year=1973 |isbn=0-448-01029-1}}</ref> and formed the word by combining the word ''fact'' and the ending ''-oid'' to mean "similar but not the same". ''[[The Washington Times]]'' described Mailer's new word as referring to "something that looks like a fact, could be a fact, but in fact is not a fact".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2007/jan/23/20070123-121624-9376r/|title=Ah, there's joy in Mudville's precincts|last=Pruden|first=Wesley|author-link=Wesley Pruden|date=January 23, 2007|work=[[The Washington Times]]|access-date=February 24, 2012}}</ref>

Accordingly, factoids may give rise to, or arise from, [[list of common misconceptions|common misconceptions]] and [[urban legend]]s. Several decades after the term was coined by Mailer, it came to have several meanings, some of which are quite distinct from each other.<ref name=NYTimes1>{{cite news|first=William |last=Safire |author-link=William Safire |date=December 5, 1993|work=[[The New York Times Magazine]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/05/magazine/on-language-only-the-factoids.html |title=On Language; Only the Factoids|access-date= June 15, 2014}}</ref> In 1993, [[William Safire]] identified several contrasting senses of ''factoid'':

* "factoid: accusatory: misinformation purporting to be factual; or, a phony statistic."<ref name=NYTimes1/>
* "factoid: neutral: seemingly though not necessarily factual"<ref name=NYTimes1/>
* "factoid: (the CNN version): a little-known bit of information; trivial but interesting data."<ref name=NYTimes1/>

This new sense of a factoid as a trivial but interesting fact was popularized by the [[CNN Headline News]] TV channel, which, during the 1980s and 1990s, often included such a fact under the heading "factoid" during newscasts. [[BBC Radio&nbsp;2]] presenter [[Steve Wright (DJ)|Steve Wright]] used factoids extensively on his show.<ref>{{cite book |author=Steve Wright|title=Steve Wright's Book of Factoids |publisher=HarperCollins Entertainment |year=2005 |isbn=0-00-720660-7}}</ref>

==Versus factlet==
As a result of confusion over the meaning of factoid, some English-language style and usage guides discourage its use.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brians |first=Paul |title=Common Errors in English Usage |publisher=William James & Company |year=2003 |isbn=1-887902-89-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/commonerrorsinen0000bria }} [http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/factoid.html "factoid" The Website of Prof. Paul Brians].</ref> [[William Safire]] in his "On Language" column advocated the use of the word ''factlet'' instead of ''factoid'' to express a brief interesting fact as well as a "little bit of arcana" but did not explain how adopting this new term would alleviate the ongoing confusion over the existing contradictory common use meanings of ''factoid''.<ref name="Safire" />

Safire suggested that ''factlet'' be used to designate a small or trivial bit of information that is nonetheless true or accurate.<ref name=NYTimes1/><ref name="Safire">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/05/magazine/on-language-only-the-factoids.html?pagewanted=all|title=On Language; Only the Factoids|last=Safire|first=William|date=December 5, 1993|work=The New York Times Magazine|access-date=February 24, 2012}}</ref> A report in ''[[The Guardian]]'' identified Safire as the writer who coined the term ''factlet'',<ref name=TheGuardian/> although Safire's 1993 column suggested ''factlet'' was already in use at that time.<ref name=NYTimes1/> ''[[The Atlantic]]'' magazine agreed with Safire and recommended ''factlet'' to signify a "small probably unimportant but interesting fact", as ''factoid'' still connoted a spurious fact.<ref name=TheAtlantic>[[Alexis Madrigal|Madrigal, Alexis C.]] (March 29, 2012). [https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/03/down-with-factoid-up-with-factlet/255235/ "Down With Factoid! Up With Factlet!"]. ''The Atlantic''. Accessed June 9, 2014. "Factoid is now almost exclusively used to mean a brief interesting fact&nbsp;... ought instead to use another word for a small probably unimportant but interesting fact".</ref> The term ''factlet'' has been used in publications such as ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]'',<ref>[[Kevin Drum|Drum, Kevin]] (April 19, 2010). [https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/04/factlet-day "Factlet of the Day"]. ''Mother Jones''. Accessed June 9, 2014.</ref> the ''[[San Jose Mercury News]]'',<ref>Burrell, Jackie (May 19, 2014). [http://www.mercurynews.com/tv/ci_25790988/amazing-race-all-star-winners-and-winner-is "Amazing Race All-Star Winners: And the winner is (spoiler!!)"]. ''The San Jose Mercury News''. Accessed June 9, 2014. "Brendan has promised his bride that if they win the million bucks, she can have a baby, a ''factlet'' that keeps coming up in the most manipulative and unsavory ways". (italics added)</ref> and in the ''[[Reno Gazette Journal]]''.<ref>Wright, Johnathan L. (May 26, 2014). [http://www.rgj.com/story/life/2014/05/25/one-ear-cherchez-sparkle-jewelry-fundraiser/9531681/ "In One Ear: Cherchez the sparkle at jewelry fundraiser; Cakebread dinner"]. ''Reno Gazette Journal''. Accessed June 9, 2014. "The chardonnay made its entrance next on the arm of rabbit loin wrapped in serrano ham (little food ''factlet'' for you: serrano ham couldn't be imported to the United States until 1997, when the pigs used in the ham were certified as free from African swine disease)". (italics added)</ref>

==See also==
{{wiktionary}}
{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|
*[[Chuck Norris facts]]
*[[Communal reinforcement]]
*[[Fake news]]
*[[Just-so story]]
*[[Meme]]
*[[Pseudoscience]]
*[[Talking point]]
*[[Truthiness]]
*[[Woozle effect]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Disinformation}}

[[Category:Communication]]
[[Category:Doubt]]
[[Category:Traditional stories]]