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Huntiness.
Jan. 12th, 2006 02:18 pmI'm in Massachusetts. I'm driving to Boston tomorrow in a flashy yellow rental car. Then my girlfriend and I will solve and win the MIT Mystery Hunt.
But I also wanted to make a comment about the American Dialect Society's Word of the Year: truthiness. Now, I was watching the Colbert Report when the word was coined, but it dropped out of site pretty quickly, I thought. It was surprising to see it get noted again at the end of the year, especially taking a spot above the much more widespread podcast.
Still, I saw someone mention that the word wouldn't be much use, except in ironic contexts, and I thought it would be good to point out a word coined for similar purposes.
But I also wanted to make a comment about the American Dialect Society's Word of the Year: truthiness. Now, I was watching the Colbert Report when the word was coined, but it dropped out of site pretty quickly, I thought. It was surprising to see it get noted again at the end of the year, especially taking a spot above the much more widespread podcast.
Still, I saw someone mention that the word wouldn't be much use, except in ironic contexts, and I thought it would be good to point out a word coined for similar purposes.
Factoid is from 1973, first explained, if not coined, by Norman Mailer. "Factoids ... that is, 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." [N. Mailer, "Marilyn," 1973] —Online Etymology Dictionary.I expect a big future for truthiness as well.
