Factoid
[FAK-toid]
Part of speech: noun
Origin: American English, 1970s
1.
A brief or trivial item of news or information.
2.
An assumption or speculation that is reported and repeated so often that it becomes accepted as fact.
Examples of Factoid in a sentence
"Mary loved collecting drinks with factoids under the bottle cap."
"Despite the popular factoid, it is not dangerous to drink soda and eat Pop Rocks."
About Factoid
This word originated as a combination of the word "fact" ("a thing known or proven to be true") and the suffix "-oid" ("resembling or like"), creating the definition of "something that resembles a fact." It has gathered additional meanings over time.
Did you Know?
Factoid was first coined by American writer Norman Mailer in his 1973 biography of pop culture icon Marilyn Monroe. In what is thought to be the first usage of the term, Mailer described factoids as facts that didn’t exist before being reported in newspapers or magazines — in other words, made up. Over time, however, "factoid" has taken on a different meaning of "a small tidbit of news or information."
