you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

And they're not factoids because definitionally a factoid resembles a fact but isn't!

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago

    Language has long since moved on from that definition of "factoid." The "-oid" suffix, which used to mean "like" or "resembling," has been assumed to mean ", but diminutive" (in words like "meteoroid" and "asteroid") or ", but different than what you expected" (in words like "humanoid" or "ellipsoid"). And because of that, the word "factoid" sounds like it should mean "a diminutive or unexpected fact." A snackt, if you will.

  • source
  • parent