Word for the Wise, June 27

[Uadzit]

Topic: Upset & factoid

A correspondent passed along a factoid he had picked up courtesy of his local newspaper's trivia quiz. Man o'War, one of the best thoroughbreds of all time, was beaten by one and only one horse during its 21 race winning streak. That horse was named Upset, and his unexpected defeat of the champ in 1919 supposedly helped upset develop its noun sense meaning "unexpected defeat"; "state of disorder."

Before we discuss the history of the noun upset, we'll upset the apple cart by pointing out that factoid has a story of its own. When factoid first appeared in print in 1973, its coiner, Norman Mailer, used it to name a "spurious fact," an invented fact believed to be true because of its appearance in print. That is indeed the sense of factoid used in this fabricated origin of the word upset. However, factoid went on to develop a second, incongruous sense: "a briefly stated and usually trivial fact."

So what's the truth about the horse Upset? Just this. Sportswriters had been using the noun upset for decades before the longshot Upset beat the odds; the naming of the horse was fortuitious, coincidental, and apt.

Questions or comments? Write us at wftw@aol.com Production and research support for Word for the Wise comes from Merriam-Webster, publisher of language reference books and Web sites including Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition.  

[chessiejo]

yay for the underdogs!

Seabiscuit

Excalibur, "old bones"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exterminator_(horse)

and the Tampa Bay Rays!