Stay in Touch
Get sneak previews of special offers & upcoming events delivered to your inbox.
Sign in
05-10-2011 11:30 AM
noun
Printed on the back of each baseball card in Mikey’s collection was a chart showing the player’s statistics along with one or two interesting factoids about his career.
"Here's an interesting factoid: 'Mary Poppins' is the only Broadway show that debuted in the 2006-2007 theatrical season still in performance." -- From an Orlando Sentinel blog posting by Matt Palm, April 18, 2011
We can thank Norman Mailer for the word "factoid"; he coined the term in his 1973 book Marilyn, about Marilyn Monroe. In the book, Mailer explains that factoids are "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." In creating his coinage, Mailer relied on "-oid," a suffix that traces back to the ancient Greek word "eidos," meaning "appearance" or "form." Mailer followed in a long tradition when he chose "-oid"; English speakers have been making words from "-oid" since at least the late 16th century.
Get sneak previews of special offers & upcoming events delivered to your inbox.
*You're signing up to receive QVC promotional email.
Find recent orders, do a return or exchange, create a Wish List & more.
Privacy StatementGeneral Terms of Use
QVC is not responsible for the availability, content, security, policies, or practices of the above referenced third-party linked sites nor liable for statements, claims, opinions, or representations contained therein. QVC's Privacy Statement does not apply to these third-party web sites.
© 1995-2024 QVC, Inc. All rights reserved. | QVC, Q and the Q logo are registered service marks of ER Marks, Inc. 888-345-5788