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Re:Starship / Super Heavy by divbzero on Saturday December 26, 2020 @11:27PM (#25548822)
This factoid [1] may soon need an update.

[1]: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/largest-r... "Largest rocket"

Re:Starship / Super Heavy by ubertoop on Saturday December 26, 2020 @11:30PM (#25548838)
Nice use of "factoid". Most people use this world incorrectly.
Re:Starship / Super Heavy by garmaine on Sunday December 27, 2020 @12:02AM (#25548997)
Probably because most of the world has a different definition.
Re:Starship / Super Heavy by neuromanser on Sunday December 27, 2020 @01:34AM (#25549322)
1 : an invented fact believed to be true because it appears in print 2 : a briefly stated and usually trivial fact

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/factoid

Re:Starship / Super Heavy by garmaine on Sunday December 27, 2020 @07:55AM (#25550693)
Note that these are OPPOSITES.
Re:Starship / Super Heavy by simonebrunozzi on Sunday December 27, 2020 @03:50AM (#25549792)
Ah, what would be the most common incorrect way to use it? Being a non-native English speaker I'm always fascinated to learn new things like this one.
Re:Starship / Super Heavy by kybernetikos on Sunday December 27, 2020 @04:36AM (#25549943)
It's often used for a "trivial or minor fact" but by comparison with planetoid (something like a planet but not a planet) or cuboid (like a cube but not an actual cube) or asteroid (looks like a star but is not a star) or humanoid / android (having the form of a human or man while not actually being one), you can see what the 'correct' usage should be.

Trivial fact would perhaps be better as 'factette' or 'microfact'.

Re:Starship / Super Heavy by ubertoop on Thursday December 31, 2020 @02:50PM (#25596365)
I have also heard people use it to describe a "bite sized fact". The "oid" part of the word, for some people, seems to mean "small" or "compartmentalized".

In this incorrect usage of the word, take the following sentence: "Nice little factoid!", could also be written as "Nice little nugget of info!"

Re:Starship / Super Heavy by dorkwood on Sunday December 27, 2020 @12:53AM (#25549175)
If most people are using a word to mean something different, doesn't that mean the meaning of the word has changed?
Re:Starship / Super Heavy by savanaly on Sunday December 27, 2020 @02:17AM (#25549455)
If I choose to label them "incorrect" for their usage of "factoid", by your own argument I'm absolutely right.
Re:Starship / Super Heavy by jl6 on Sunday December 27, 2020 @02:04AM (#25549408)
Descriptivists may say yes, but that doesn’t mean people won’t try to stop the meaning drifting to prevent the past becoming inaccessible.
Re:Starship / Super Heavy by jdeibele on Sunday December 27, 2020 @01:59PM (#25553345)
Seems to have happened with "momentarily". Used to mean "for a moment" but now most people use it to mean "in a moment".

I remember being amused the first time a flight attendant said "we'll be taking off momentarily".

Re:Starship / Super Heavy by alasdair_ on Sunday December 27, 2020 @01:17AM (#25549264)
It depends which people you are talking to.
Re:Starship / Super Heavy by ramraj07 on Saturday December 26, 2020 @11:46PM (#25548928)
Reminds me of Norm's use of the word when reciting a joke about Danny Devito (and Norm's a stickler for proper usage of words)