I discovered this one in Margaret Atwood’s novel, “The Penelopiad,” [1] which tells the story of Odysseus from the viewpoint of his (dead) wife, Penelope.
“I know only a few factoids that I didn’t know before.”
This was a new word for me. The Oxford Dictionary defines a “factoid” as “an item of unreliable information that is reported and repeated so often that it becomes accepted as fact” as well as (North American) “a brief or trivial item of news or information.” According to the first definition, a factoid may or may not be true, while the second definition indicates something that is unimportant but true.
Examples:
“But this factoid is designed to deceive – starting with the inescapable reality that the 310,000, mostly white middle-aged men from London, who make up that top 1% of UK earners, take home 14% of the national income.”
“And an interesting factoid is that the CX-30 is expected to hold up to 60 percent of its residual value after three years.”
“But ask someone what’s so great about Finland’s schools, and you’ll typically be supplied with a factoid or three.”
Photo credit: Art Gallery ErgsArt - by ErgSap (Creative Commons)
[1] Atwood, Margaret. The Penelopiad (Canongate Myths series) Canongate Books. Kindle Edition.
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