| 释义 |
factoid, n. and a.|ˈfæktɔɪd|
[f. fact + -oid.]
A. n. Something that becomes accepted as a fact, although it is not (or may not be) true; spec. an assumption or speculation reported and repeated so often that it is popularly considered true; a simulated or imagined fact.
1973N. Mailer Marilyn i. 18/2 Factoids..that is, facts which have no existence before appearing in a magazine or newspaper, creations which are not so much lies as a product to manipulate emotion in the Silent Majority. 1977McKnight & Tobler Bob Marley v. 60 On such flimsy evidence, many is the factoid that has been created. 1982Listener 11 Feb. 34/1 A vicious circle of misinformation and garbled folklore factoids. 1983Washington Post Mag. 19 June 9/2 They spend their days with ‘factoids’—data produced by a computer's simulation of the world as it might be. 1987I. Ruff Dead Reckoning 59 A record not of the actual truth but a series of semi-fictional factoids.
B. adj. Of or having the character of a factoid, quasi-factual; spec. designating writing (esp. journalism) which contains a mixture of fact and supposition or invention presented as accepted fact.
1976Daily Tel. 18 Feb. 14/3 The current television trend of ‘factoid’ journalism, reporting events which may have happened. 1977Even. Standard 20 June 2/3 This..space mystery, presented in factoid form as a news report. 1980Encounter Oct. 30/2 It is a valuable and entertaining, if partisan and factoid, chapter in the struggle to reveal the intimate secrets of the judiciary to those it exists to serve. |