Quote:
Originally Posted by Catlady
A fact is a fact, and a false "fact" isn't a factoid, it's a falsehood.
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Perhaps Mailer coined the term to allow for the possibility that some of the items printed may happen to have been true....
Nonetheless, I doubt the researchers who collected the data the term was applied to in the book would appreciate their work being classed the same as the gossip pieces Mailer was referring to.
It's a good word. A lot of import. It's wrong to relegate it to just another synonym for fact.