小道真相
小道真相（factoid）是指那些捏造或假设为事实的陈述，[1][2]或是属实但简短冷知识类的新闻资讯。
这个词是由美国作家诺曼·梅勒于1973年创造的，意指一则即使并非真实但却被视为事实的资讯，或是一则因为出现在报纸上而被认为是真实的虚构事实。[3]自1973年发明此词以来，它已被用来形容简短或琐碎的新闻或资讯。
用法
美国作家诺曼·梅勒于1973年在他的玛丽莲·梦露传记中创造了这个新词。[4]梅勒将factoids描述为“在杂志或报纸上出现之前根本不存在的真相”，[5]并将真相（fact）一词与结尾-oid结合而成此词，意指“类似但不相同”。华盛顿时报形容梅勒的新词是指“看似事实、可能是事实，但实际上不是事实的东西”。[6]
因此，小道真相可能产生或源自常见误解和都市传说。在梅勒创造这个名词的数十年后，它开始有了多种意义，其中有些意义彼此迥异。[7]1993年，威廉·萨菲尔确定出几种截然不同的含义：
19世纪80~90年代，CNN头条新闻电视频道经常在新闻播报中以“factoid”为标题，将此类事实纳入其中。BBC广播二台节目主持人史提芬·怀莱德在他的节目中广泛使用小道真相。[8]
factoid与factlet相比
由于factoid的涵义令人混淆，有些英文风格和用法指南不鼓励使用此词。[9] 威廉·萨菲尔在他的On Language专栏中主张用factlet代替factoid来表达一个简短有趣的事实以及 “一点点的奥秘”的意思，但没有解释采用这个新词如何能缓解factoid现有的相互矛盾常用义的持续混乱。[10]
萨菲尔建议用factlet来指代一个少量琐碎但仍然真实准确的资讯。[7][10] 卫报一篇报导指出萨菲尔factlet这个词的创作者，[4]尽管萨菲尔在1993年的专栏中指出factlet在当时已有使用。[7]大西洋杂志同意萨菲尔的说法，并建议用factlet来表示“可能不重要但有趣的小事实”，因为factoid仍含有虚假事实的含义。[11]factlet一词曾在琼斯母亲、[12]圣荷西信使报[13]和雷诺公报[14]等刊物中使用。
参见
参考
- ^ factoid: definition of factoid in Merriam-Webster Dictionary (US). Merriam-Webster. [November 14, 2015].
- ^ factoid: definition of factoid in Oxford dictionary (American English) (US). Oxford Dictionaries Online. [July 13, 2015]. （原始内容存档于June 14, 2013）.
- ^ Dickson, Paul (April 30, 2014). "The origins of writerly words". Time. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
- ^ 4.0 4.1 Marsh, David. A factoid is not a small fact. Fact: A factoid is subtly different from a trivial fact, whatever Steve Wright may claim. The Guardian. January 17, 2014 [June 16, 2014].
- ^ Mailer, Norman. Marilyn: A Biography. Grosset & Dunlap. 1973. ISBN 0-448-01029-1.
- ^ Pruden, Wesley. Ah, there's joy in Mudville's precincts. The Washington Times. January 23, 2007 [February 24, 2012].
- ^ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Safire, William. On Language; Only the Factoids. The New York Times Magazine. December 5, 1993 [June 15, 2014].
- ^ Steve Wright. Steve Wright's Book of Factoids. HarperCollins Entertainment. 2005. ISBN 0-00-720660-7.
- ^ Brians, Paul. Common Errors in English Usage
. William James & Company. 2003. ISBN 1-887902-89-9. "factoid" The Website of Prof. Paul Brians.
- ^ 10.0 10.1 Safire, William. On Language; Only the Factoids. The New York Times Magazine. December 5, 1993 [February 24, 2012].
- ^ Madrigal, Alexis C. (March 29, 2012). "Down With Factoid! Up With Factlet!". The Atlantic. Accessed June 9, 2014. "Factoid is now almost exclusively used to mean a brief interesting fact ... ought instead to use another word for a small probably unimportant but interesting fact".
- ^ Drum, Kevin (April 19, 2010). "Factlet of the Day". Mother Jones. Accessed June 9, 2014.
- ^ Burrell, Jackie (May 19, 2014). "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)
- ^ Wright, Johnathan L. (May 26, 2014). "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)
