Quote:
Originally Posted by ApK
Dictionaries record usage. Just because lots of people misuse a word out if ignorance and laziness doesn't mean we all have to accept it.
The suffix -oid has a meaning: resembling a thing, but not the thing. Asteroids may resemble stars in the sky, but they are not stars.
When language changes to reflect new ideas, to become more expressive, to improve communication, those are good or at least expected changes in a living language.
When it changes just to become more ambiguous with no added value, out of only laziness and ignorance, those changes should be resisted.
I have spoken.
ApK
*Need a new word for trivia? I propose "factlet" or "factette" or some other logical, or at least original, neologism.
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Hey, take it up with the Merriam-Webster people, not me. I don't like the word at all because of the ambiguity. A fact is a fact, and a false "fact" isn't a factoid, it's a falsehood.