小道真相

小道真相（factoid）是指那些捏造或假設為事實的陳述，^[1]^[2]或是屬實但簡短冷知識類的新聞資訊。

這個詞是由美國作家諾曼·梅勒於1973年創造的，意指一則即使並非真實但卻被視為事實的資訊，或是一則因為出現在報紙上而被認為是真實的虛構事實。^[3]自1973年發明此詞以來，它已被用來形容簡短或瑣碎的新聞或資訊。

用法

美國作家諾曼·梅勒於1973年在他的瑪麗蓮·夢露傳記中創造了這個新詞。^[4]梅勒將factoids描述為「在雜誌或報紙上出現之前根本不存在的真相」，^[5]並將真相（fact）一詞與結尾-oid結合而成此詞，意指「類似但不相同」。華盛頓時報形容梅勒的新詞是指「看似事實、可能是事實，但實際上不是事實的東西」。^[6]

因此，小道真相可能產生或源自常見誤解和都市傳說。在梅勒創造這個名詞的數十年後，它開始有了多種意義，其中有些意義彼此迥異。^[7]1993年，威廉·薩菲爾確定出幾種截然不同的含義：

指責性含義：聲稱是事實的錯誤信息；或虛假的統計數據。^[7]
中立性含義：看似真實但不一定事實。^[7]
CNN版本：鮮為人知的信息；瑣碎但有趣的數據。^[7]

19世紀80~90年代，CNN頭條新聞電視頻道經常在新聞播報中以「factoid」為標題，將此類事實納入其中。BBC廣播二台節目主持人史提芬·懷萊德在他的節目中廣泛使用小道真相。^[8]

factoid與factlet相比

由於factoid的涵義令人混淆，有些英文風格和用法指南不鼓勵使用此詞。^[9] 威廉·薩菲爾在他的On Language專欄中主張用factlet代替factoid來表達一個簡短有趣的事實以及「一點點的奧秘」的意思，但沒有解釋採用這個新詞如何能緩解factoid現有的相互矛盾常用義的持續混亂。^[10]

薩菲爾建議用factlet來指代一個少量瑣碎但仍然真實準確的資訊。^[7]^[10] 衛報一篇報導指出薩菲爾factlet這個詞的創作者，^[4]儘管薩菲爾在1993年的專欄中指出factlet在當時已有使用。^[7]大西洋雜誌同意薩菲爾的說法，並建議用factlet來表示「可能不重要但有趣的小事實」，因為factoid仍含有虛假事實的含義。^[11]factlet一詞曾在瓊斯母親、^[12]聖荷西信使報^[13]和雷諾公報^[14]等刊物中使用。

參見

參考

^ factoid: definition of factoid in Merriam-Webster Dictionary (US). Merriam-Webster. [November 14, 2015].
^ factoid: definition of factoid in Oxford dictionary (American English) (US). Oxford Dictionaries Online. [July 13, 2015]. （原始內容存檔於June 14, 2013）.
^ Dickson, Paul (April 30, 2014). "The origins of writerly words". Time. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
^ ^4.0 ^4.1 Marsh, David. A factoid is not a small fact. Fact: A factoid is subtly different from a trivial fact, whatever Steve Wright may claim. The Guardian. January 17, 2014 [June 16, 2014].
^ Mailer, Norman. Marilyn: A Biography. Grosset & Dunlap. 1973. ISBN 0-448-01029-1.
^ Pruden, Wesley. Ah, there's joy in Mudville's precincts. The Washington Times. January 23, 2007 [February 24, 2012].
^ ^7.0 ^7.1 ^7.2 ^7.3 ^7.4 ^7.5 Safire, William. On Language; Only the Factoids. The New York Times Magazine. December 5, 1993 [June 15, 2014].
^ Steve Wright. Steve Wright's Book of Factoids. HarperCollins Entertainment. 2005. ISBN 0-00-720660-7.
^ Brians, Paul. Common Errors in English Usage. William James & Company. 2003. ISBN 1-887902-89-9. "factoid" The Website of Prof. Paul Brians.
^ ^10.0 ^10.1 Safire, William. On Language; Only the Factoids. The New York Times Magazine. December 5, 1993 [February 24, 2012].
^ Madrigal, Alexis C. (March 29, 2012). "Down With Factoid! Up With Factlet!". The Atlantic. Accessed June 9, 2014. "Factoid is now almost exclusively used to mean a brief interesting fact ... ought instead to use another word for a small probably unimportant but interesting fact".
^ Drum, Kevin (April 19, 2010). "Factlet of the Day". Mother Jones. Accessed June 9, 2014.
^ Burrell, Jackie (May 19, 2014). "Amazing Race All-Star Winners: And the winner is (spoiler!!)". The San Jose Mercury News. Accessed June 9, 2014. "Brendan has promised his bride that if they win the million bucks, she can have a baby, a factlet that keeps coming up in the most manipulative and unsavory ways". (italics added)
^ Wright, Johnathan L. (May 26, 2014). "In One Ear: Cherchez the sparkle at jewelry fundraiser; Cakebread dinner". Reno Gazette Journal. Accessed June 9, 2014. "The chardonnay made its entrance next on the arm of rabbit loin wrapped in serrano ham (little food factlet for you: serrano ham couldn't be imported to the United States until 1997, when the pigs used in the ham were certified as free from African swine disease)". (italics added)

[1] toid: definition of factoid in Merriam-Webster Dictionary (US). Merriam-Webster. [November 14, 2015].

[oxforddictionaries.com2-2] toid: definition of factoid in Oxford dictionary (American English) (US). Oxford Dictionaries Online. [July 13, 2015]. （原始內容存檔於June 14, 2013）.

[twsTimeMag2-3] Dickson, Paul (April 30, 2014). "The origins of writerly words". Time. Retrieved November 14, 2015.

[TheGuardian2-4] 4.0 ^4.1 Marsh, David. A factoid is not a small fact. Fact: A factoid is subtly different from a trivial fact, whatever Steve Wright may claim. The Guardian. January 17, 2014 [June 16, 2014].

[5] Mailer, Norman. Marilyn: A Biography. Grosset & Dunlap. 1973. ISBN 0-448-01029-1.

[6] Pruden, Wesley. Ah, there's joy in Mudville's precincts. The Washington Times. January 23, 2007 [February 24, 2012].

[NYTimes12-7] 7.0 ^7.1 ^7.2 ^7.3 ^7.4 ^7.5 Safire, William. On Language; Only the Factoids. The New York Times Magazine. December 5, 1993 [June 15, 2014].

[8] Steve Wright. Steve Wright's Book of Factoids. HarperCollins Entertainment. 2005. ISBN 0-00-720660-7.

[9] Brians, Paul. Common Errors in English Usage. William James & Company. 2003. ISBN 1-887902-89-9. "factoid" The Website of Prof. Paul Brians.

[Safire2-10] 10.0 ^10.1 Safire, William. On Language; Only the Factoids. The New York Times Magazine. December 5, 1993 [February 24, 2012].

[TheAtlantic2-11] Madrigal, Alexis C. (March 29, 2012). "Down With Factoid! Up With Factlet!". The Atlantic. Accessed June 9, 2014. "Factoid is now almost exclusively used to mean a brief interesting fact ... ought instead to use another word for a small probably unimportant but interesting fact".

[12] Drum, Kevin (April 19, 2010). "Factlet of the Day". Mother Jones. Accessed June 9, 2014.

[13] Burrell, Jackie (May 19, 2014). "Amazing Race All-Star Winners: And the winner is (spoiler!!)". The San Jose Mercury News. Accessed June 9, 2014. "Brendan has promised his bride that if they win the million bucks, she can have a baby, a factlet that keeps coming up in the most manipulative and unsavory ways". (italics added)

[14] Wright, Johnathan L. (May 26, 2014). "In One Ear: Cherchez the sparkle at jewelry fundraiser; Cakebread dinner". Reno Gazette Journal. Accessed June 9, 2014. "The chardonnay made its entrance next on the arm of rabbit loin wrapped in serrano ham (little food factlet for you: serrano ham couldn't be imported to the United States until 1997, when the pigs used in the ham were certified as free from African swine disease)". (italics added)

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