If I have provided you with any factoids in the course of Atlantic Trivia, I apologize, because a factoid, properly, is not a small, interesting fact. A factoid is a piece of information that looks like a fact but is untrue. Norman Mailer popularized the term in 1973, very intentionally giving it the suffix -oid. Is a humanoid not a creature whose appearance suggests humanity but whose nature belies it? Thus is it with factoid.

So what of those fun, itty bits of info that are correct? In the 1990s, William Safire suggested factlet for the small-but-true fact (and The Atlantic in 2012 agreed), though minifact is sometimes used. And for the statements somewhere in between interesting and untrue—factini, perhaps? Start with five parts fascinating to one part wrong; adjust to taste.

Find las

See Full Page