3 ms·
Nice use of "factoid". Most people use this world incorrectly.
by ubertoop 6y ago
Nice use of "factoid". Most people use this world incorrectly.
- ramraj07 6y agoReminds me of Norm's use of the word when reciting a joke about Danny Devito (and Norm's a stickler for proper usage of words)
- garmaine 6y agoProbably because most of the world has a different definition.
- neuromanser 6y ago1 : an invented fact believed to be true because it appears in print 2 : a briefly stated and usually trivial fact https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/factoid https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/factoid
- garmaine 6y agoNote that these are OPPOSITES.
- dorkwood 6y agoIf most people are using a word to mean something different, doesn't that mean the meaning of the word has changed?
- alasdair_ 6y agoIt depends which people you are talking to.
- jl6 6y agoDescriptivists may say yes, but that doesn’t mean people won’t try to stop the meaning drifting to prevent the past becoming inaccessible.
- savanaly 6y agoIf I choose to label them "incorrect" for their usage of "factoid", by your own argument I'm absolutely right.
- jdeibele 6y agoSeems to have happened with "momentarily". Used to mean "for a moment" but now most people use it to mean "in a moment". I remember being amused the first time a flight attendant said "we'll be taking off momentarily".
- simonebrunozzi 6y agoAh, what would be the most common incorrect way to use it? Being a non-native English speaker I'm always fascinated to learn new things like this one.
- kybernetikos 6y agoIt's often used for a "trivial or minor fact" but by comparison with planetoid (something like a planet but not a planet) or cuboid (like a cube but not an actual cube) or asteroid (looks like a star but is not a star) or humanoid / android (having the form of a human or man while not actually being one), you can see what the 'correct' usage should be. Trivial fact would perhaps be better as 'factette' or 'microfact'.
- ubertoop 6y agoI have also heard people use it to describe a "bite sized fact". The "oid" part of the word, for some people, seems to mean "small" or "compartmentalized". In this incorrect usage of the word, take the following sentence: "Nice little factoid!", could also be written as "Nice little nugget of info!"