Modern word usage sometimes leaves me confused as can be!
by Charlie Leck
I won’t bore you here today. I’ll strike and withdraw quickly.
I’m amazed at the way young people use the language these days, dude. I mean, like, you wouldn’t believe the things I hear that make my blood, like, curdle.
Like, man, like the word factoid!
I hear kids saying it all the time: “That’s a factoid, dude!” In translation I infer that they mean: “That’s a fact, Jack!”
In fact, it isn’t what they've said. I hope they might know that. The very “oid” appended to the end of the word means something resembling or having the appearance of….
A “factoid” is then something resembling or having the appearance of a fact. It is actually an unverified or even inaccurate piece of information that has been presented so often as factual that it begins to be accepted as so.
So, therefore, the following conversation leaves me confused.
I’m amazed at the way young people use the language these days, dude. I mean, like, you wouldn’t believe the things I hear that make my blood, like, curdle.
Like, man, like the word factoid!
I hear kids saying it all the time: “That’s a factoid, dude!” In translation I infer that they mean: “That’s a fact, Jack!”
In fact, it isn’t what they've said. I hope they might know that. The very “oid” appended to the end of the word means something resembling or having the appearance of….
A “factoid” is then something resembling or having the appearance of a fact. It is actually an unverified or even inaccurate piece of information that has been presented so often as factual that it begins to be accepted as so.
So, therefore, the following conversation leaves me confused.
“Obama, dude, is a brother, man!”
“That’s a factoid, bro!”
Are we meant to give up words and their real meaning to current and ignorant usage? I think that’s the way it works, dude, and that’s a factoid.
Dude [noun as dude; verb as duded or duding; e.g., "I am all duded out, dude!"]
(1) Man excessively concerned with his clothing, grooming and manners
(2) Slang: fellow or chap
(3) A person reared in a large city
(4) An urban person who vacations on a ranch.
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