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小道真相

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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类的新聞資訊。

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年在他的玛丽莲·梦露傳記中創造了這個新词[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”。华盛顿时报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见误解都市傳說。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·萨菲尔确定出幾種截然不同的含义:

  • 指责性含义:声称是事实的错误信息;或虚假的统计数据。[7]
  • 中立性含义:看似真实但不一定事实。[7]
  • CNN版本:鲜为人知的信息;琐碎但有趣的数据。[7]

19世纪80~90年代,CNN头条新闻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与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·萨菲尔在他的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]

萨菲尔建議用factlet來指代一個少量琐碎但仍然真實準確的資訊。[7][10] 衛報一篇報導指出萨菲尔factlet這個詞的创作者,[4]儘管萨菲尔在1993年的專欄中指出factlet在當時已有使用。[7]大西洋雜誌同意萨菲尔的說法,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一詞曾在琼斯母亲[12]聖荷西信使報[13]和雷诺公报[14]等刊物中使用。

参见

参考

  1. ^ factoid: definition of factoid in Merriam-Webster Dictionary (US). Merriam-Webster. [November 14, 2015]. 
  2. ^ factoid: definition of factoid in Oxford dictionary (American English) (US). Oxford Dictionaries Online. [July 13, 2015]. (原始内容存档于June 14, 2013). 
  3. ^ Dickson, Paul (April 30, 2014). "The origins of writerly words". Time. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
  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]. 
  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需要免费注册. William James & Company. 2003. ISBN 1-887902-89-9.  "factoid" The Website of Prof. Paul Brians.
  10. ^ 10.0 10.1 Safire, William. On Language; Only the Factoids. The New York Times Magazine. December 5, 1993 [February 24, 2012]. 
  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)