The original definition of the noun factoid is a piece of inaccurate or unverified information presented as factual. The -oid suffix normally means resembling or having the appearance of, so a factoid is something that has the appearance of fact but is not necessarily factual. The word was coined by Norman Mailer in his biography of Marilyn Monroe, where he defined factoids as “facts which have no existence before appearing in a magazine or newspaper.”
But factoid is now almost exclusively used to mean a brief interesting fact. This definition is still considered incorrect by people who follow English usage, but it’s so widespread that we have to accept it, even if it does contradict the word’s original sense.
The word is primarily an Americanism, appearing only rarely in non-U.S. publications.
Examples
Factoid is almost always used in the sense that tends to peeve people who follow English usage—for example:
Here’s an interesting factoid for you: The Mavericks have covered the spread in 15 consecutive games. [Dallas Morning News]
An interesting factoid Mayer mentioned is that more than half of Google Maps usage on the weekends is now on mobile devices … [Forbes]
What’s not rubbish is this factoid: the topic of #RoyalWedding has surpassed 1 million tweets … [Los Angeles Times]
These writers obviously don’t mean to suggest their factoids merely resemble truth, so they’re using factoid in its newer sense.
The world has accepted the newer, more questionable version of factoid, but we don’t have to go along with it. Sometimes, factoid can be replaced with fact with no loss of meaning. Elsewhere, let’s go with factlet.
