Word Of The Day

FACTOID

""Factoid" is one of those rare words that were undeniably invented by an identifiable individual, in this case Norman Mailer, in his book "Marilyn," published in 1973. The Oxford Dictionary of New Words defines "factoid" thus: "A spurious or questionable fact; especially something that is supposed to be true because it has been reported (and often repeated) in the media, but is actually based on speculation or even fabrication." Norman Mailer himself defined "factoids" as "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."

Mailer invented the word by combining "fact" with "oid," a scientific suffix meaning "resembling or having the form of, but not identical to." Needless to say, "factoids" in Mailer's sense are the antithesis of serious reporting, and to accuse a journalist of trafficking in "factoids" was a grave insult, at least until CNN came along.

Unfortunately, the repetition of "factoid" in this "trivial fact" sense has taken its toll, and almost no one remembers the original meaning. Hence the secondary "trivia" definition found in most current dictionaries almost certainly will, at some point in the near future, become the primary one.

Mailer's original negative definition of "factoid" was a valuable contribution to the language on a par with George Orwell's "Newspeak," and, in this age of spin doctors, "factoid" still fills a conspicuous need. Perhaps we should petition CNN to give us our word back."

THANKS TO EVAN MORRIS FOR THIS

Wow ZYZZYGOGUE that is so interesting. I read Marilyn when it was first published in 1969 but I sure do not remember the word factoid. Very interesting to know where these things come from.

YOU ARE WELCOME

Netiquette
Pronunciation: 'ne-ti-k&t, -"ket
Function: noun
Etymology: blend of net and etiquette
Date: 1988
: etiquette governing communication on the Internet

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary



by Virginia Shea

http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html

HERES WHAT THE CAMBRIDGE DICTIONARY SAYS ABOUT NETIQUETTE

"the set of rules which control ways of behaving that are used when writing e-mail or while talking to people in a chat room
It is considered bad netiquette to write using capital letters because it looks like YOU ARE SHOUTING."

OOPS I SHOUT A LOT

COPYRIGHT - The Basics of Copyright Law, By Ann Dunn Wessberg



http://library.lp.findlaw.com/articles/file/00106/002465/title/Subject/topic/Intellectual%20Property%20Law_Copyright/filename/intellectualpropertylaw_1_233

ZYZZYGOGUE no problem we all have done the all capital thing and more that once. Do not worry we know you were not really intending to yell at us and I was not referring to you. Just trying to make information about netetiquette available if people had questions.

THANKS

AND thanks

You've all heard of "lecture", but have you heard of "lecturette"?

joanne, you reminded me of last week's Bill Moyer's NOW show on PBS - there was a very interesting item on copyright. I always learn something new watching that program. The transcript and main webpage:

http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_copyright.html

http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/copyright.html

Cool stuff Larry and topical. The music industry and the movie industry is really losing money because of the net and free down loads. What will we do if they cannot earn the money to produce movies and music?

I don't think the music industry can win - they seem to be putting off the inevitable. Article on that subject a few days ago in NYT.

Finally made Enthusiast in Training, that was a long wait - thought it would never come!

lackadaisical \lack-uh-DAY-zih-kuhl\, adjective:
Lacking spirit or liveliness; showing lack of interest; languid; listless.

Drowsy from the heat and from fatigue, he dozed to the steady lackadaisical clips of the mule's shoes.
--Patricia Powell, The Pagoda

There was an oddly lackadaisical inflection to his speech. A sense of merely going though the motions.
--Lesley Hazleton, Driving To Detroit

The very title, Hours of Idleness, which the young lord affixed to his maiden volume, sufficiently indicated the lackadaisical spirit in which he came before the public.
--J. F. A. Pyre, "Byron in Our Day," The Atlantic, April 1907

The simple fact is, whether we admit it or not, there's never been an "intelligence" or "achievement" test on which the smart and industrious have not done better than the dumb and the lackadaisical.
--Jonah Goldberg, "Stupid Aptitude Test," National Review, July 1, 2002

Lackadaisical comes from the expression lackadaisy, a variation of lackaday, itself a shortening of "alack the (or a) day!"

Synonyms: idle, inattentive, lazy, lethargic. Find more at Thesaurus.com.

Like NOOK-YA-LEHR, lackadaisical is one of my favorite/unfavorite mis-pronounced words, "LAXadaisical." Maybe we should start a thread on that.

Larry, that is so true, very few people can say it correctly. Lackadaisy is typical:)

On this very cold day for most of us let us discuss this wonderful word suggested to me by one of the grandest of all POOH-BAHS

Main Entry: pooh-bah
Variant(s): also poo-bah /'pü-"bä, -"bo/
Function: noun
Usage: often capitalized P&B
Etymology: Pooh-Bah, character in Gilbert and Sullivan's opera The Mikado (1885) bearing the title Lord-High-Everything-Else
Date: 1888
1 : a person holding many public or private offices
2 : a person in high position or of great influence
Merriam-Webster`s Collegiate® Dictionary & Thesaurus

http://math.boisestate.edu/GaS/mikado/html/mikado.html

Great thread Joanne. Keep up the good work.

seaglass

And I thought Pooh-Bah was Christopher Robin's friend.













Its late.

Only if your are from Boston I would suppose.