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Subject:Re: Factoid From:Romay Jean Sitze <rositze -at- NMSU -dot- EDU> Date:Fri, 12 May 1995 14:05:43 -0600
On Fri, 12 May 1995, Arlen P. Walker wrote:
> I think in current use the term "Factoid" is akin to "trivia." In other words,
> when CNN shows a "Factoid" before the commercial, they are presenting a fact,
> with no accompanying interpretation, and they are making no claims about its
> importance as "news" nor completeness in coverage of the subject.
When I read this, a thought passed through my somewhat convoluted mind.
Do you suppose that whoever coined the word "factoid" was inspired by
"asteroid"? I've always heard the term in the sense Arlen used it: as a
bit of trivis or snippet of fact. In the same vein, asteroids seem to be
little bits of planetary matter.
