Well, language is a living thing. In my experience, the meaning of that word has shifted over the past couple decades
Fact-oid means something like malformed fact, but we no longer use this suffix much because it’s offensive. So the suffix kinda lost it’s meaning in everyday language, which makes this kind of flip common… There’s a word for this kind of drift, but I don’t remember it
So those things aren’t true then? (Just asking out of curiosity.)
Factoids also mean “false statements presented as fact”, guys. I was wondering what was being used here… 🙄
Factoids are true things, just simplified down to the point they’re easily digestible without context
That’s one definition, but the most common one in my experience is this:
You’re using the other meaning, and that’s fine. I was just verifying which one was being used.
Well, language is a living thing. In my experience, the meaning of that word has shifted over the past couple decades
Fact-oid means something like malformed fact, but we no longer use this suffix much because it’s offensive. So the suffix kinda lost it’s meaning in everyday language, which makes this kind of flip common… There’s a word for this kind of drift, but I don’t remember it
I have the opposite experience — I’ve never seen anyone use the “fact” version of factoid. Only the “untrue statement” version.
Oh well, as long as we understand each other.