A factoid defined

Factoid? What on earth is that? What manner of beast?

Well, as they say, sometimes facts are stranger than fiction -- and often, you wish the facts were a wee bit different, slightly coloured to match your own tastes...

Enter the factoid.

Factoid can refer to a spurious (unverified, incorrect, or invented) "fact" intended to create or prolong public exposure or to manipulate public opinion, says Wikipedia.

Something resembling a fact; unverified (often invented) information that is given credibility because it appeared in print; a brief (usually one sentence and usually trivial) news item, says Princeton's Wordnet.

Something which becomes accepted as fact, although it may not be true, says the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).

The term was coined by the American writer Norman Mailer in his 1973 biography of Marilyn Monroe. Mailer described factoids as "facts which have no existence before appearing in a magazine or newspaper".

And now, in this Internet era, websites, we may as well add, websites...

However, having said all that, Kerala Factoids is different -- neither skimpy nor trivial, neither turgid nor pompous, sometimes flippant, often irreverent...as you will no doubt find out here!

Enjoy!