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I'm searching for a certain single, rare, literary word meaning "something taken as truth due to having been repeated so much". This "something" could be either true or false. It is not necessarily pernicious or benign.

An example of such a "something" (at the risk of getting political) is that Osama Bin Laden was killed in May 2011.

Does anyone know the word I'm searching for?

P.S.: "Factoid" is ticked — however, there may exist an even better fit.

RegDwigнt
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d'alar'cop
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  • Myth, legend, narrative? – WS2 Feb 01 '14 at 11:09
  • Ohhh... no, I'm afraid not. "Myth" would be closest... The word will be something out of philosophy or politics. Possibly purely literary, even. – d'alar'cop Feb 01 '14 at 11:17
  • 'I'm searching for a single word' / 'Searching for a rare word'. Are you sure one exists? Please phrase questions as questions. – Edwin Ashworth Feb 01 '14 at 11:34
  • Yes; I recall looking at the definition in a dictionary - the definition is paraphrased in the initial quoted phrase. – d'alar'cop Feb 01 '14 at 11:35
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    fact +‎ -oid; coined by Norman Mailer in Marilyn (1973): "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". An inaccurate statement or statistic believed to be true because of broad repetition, especially if cited in the media. – d'alar'cop Feb 01 '14 at 14:17
  • Is it 'truism' you're looking for? One connotation of it is that it is a statement repeated often and so taken as true, though not necessarily justified. – Mitch Feb 01 '14 at 15:39
  • @Mitch I see... yes, interesting. Can we find a dictionary that actually defines it as you say? – d'alar'cop Feb 01 '14 at 15:45
  • The link I gave you does. – Mitch Feb 01 '14 at 16:20
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    @Mitch It doesn't say anything about it being potentially unjustified.... – d'alar'cop Feb 01 '14 at 16:24
  • Dictionary definitions hardly ever say everything. Also, you didn't specify 'unjustified' in your question. Is that what you want? Either way, none of these are unjustified, just their justification is put in to question. – Mitch Feb 01 '14 at 16:33
  • @Mitch Yep, the question itself (and I) don't say anything about unjustifiability. Respectfully, you first mentioned it. The key thing is repetition and acceptance. So, yeah, it could be truism if it can indeed mean ONLY those 2 things too. – d'alar'cop Feb 01 '14 at 16:35
  • To be pedantic, though I mentioned something about justification first, 'not necessarily justified' is not the same as 'unjustified'. – Mitch Feb 01 '14 at 16:47
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    @Mitch Even I remember having seen truism used in the sense of factoid, whether that's one of the alternate meanings or the author's mistaken use in stead of factoid I am not sure. However, I could not find a reliable source that defines truism that way at all. Even the MW reference you cite does not define the word that way. I had checked that one before. – Kris Feb 02 '14 at 06:57
  • @Kris the MW link has first "a true statement that is very commonly heard : a common statement that is obviously true" - I suggested 'truism' because one can never be sure about a word one doesn't know yet but asks for (or of any word for that matter). I'm cherry picking in hopes that it gets what the OP wants. 'truism' always sound like, to me, something repeated often as a fact but unquestioned and so questionable. But that's me. – Mitch Feb 02 '14 at 16:29
  • @Mitch Thank mate. Honestly I appreciate all the shots... and as you describe it, it could well be a match - also note truism occurs on no thesaurus I checked for the other candidates. – d'alar'cop Feb 02 '14 at 17:09
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    That's a pretty bad example, considering that it was a case where evidence was indeed presented. Even if it wasn't true and all that evidence was faked as part of some conspiracy, it still wouldn't count. – Jon Hanna Feb 10 '14 at 11:42
  • @JonHanna May you please clarify what, precisely, you are talking about? – d'alar'cop Feb 10 '14 at 11:45
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    "An example of such a "something" (at the risk of getting political) is that Osama Bin Laden was killed in May 2011". No it's not; the reason people believe he was killed was that evidence was presented to that effect; whether it's true or not, it's not something believed just due to repetition. – Jon Hanna Feb 10 '14 at 11:48
  • @JonHanna Oh I see... unfortunately there was no evidence besides the word of well-known and well-paid propagandists. i.e. I don't accept that there is any "evidence" and thus the belief is purely on the repetition and good PR. Also, I didn't want to get in a political discussion - I just couldn't think of something else at the time of posting the question. – d'alar'cop Feb 10 '14 at 11:55
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    My point is that it doesn't count either way. Either the evidence is genuine, in which case it is true and believed due to evidence and doesn't count, or it really happened but the evidence is fake, in which case it is believed due to evidence and doesn't count, or it didn't really happen and the evidence is fake, in which case it is believed due to evidence and doesn't count. – Jon Hanna Feb 10 '14 at 12:10
  • @JonHanna My reasoning is this: There is no "evidence" - only repeated news stories on the subject; whether it happened or not is not the point (see above). Good day to you, sir. – d'alar'cop Feb 10 '14 at 12:13
  • Evidence is not truth. There may be genuine evidence which points to something that did not happen. So "evidence" might be used. A discussion about an evidence-based position that was well-accepted and is apparently wrong sees the use of the word "myth" in comments about an article on Keynesian economics: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/04/16/is-the-best-evidence-for-austerity-based-on-an-excel-spreadsheet-error/. – user26732 Feb 13 '14 at 16:58
  • The Osama example is a bad one since not based solely on repetition. But here's one: the alleged quote from Jean-Paul Sartre that Charles Bukowski is the greatest American poet. Rolling Stone reported the quote as having been printed in Esquire Magazine, except it wasn't. Since then the quote has been printed and re-printed but research shows that Sartre never said any such thing. Because of the multiple citations, people nevertheless believe that Sartre made the comment. – user26732 Nov 03 '14 at 12:20
  • Excellent question (and hi! :-D ) – Rand al'Thor Dec 18 '14 at 14:37
  • @randal'thor Hello :D see you in HQ – d'alar'cop Dec 18 '14 at 15:53
  • I just came back to this question because "geewhiz" (one of the answerers) is user123456 and I wanted to see what he'd posted. Give him a +1 and come to HQ ;-) – Rand al'Thor Aug 26 '15 at 21:00
  • What do we call HQ? – d'alar'cop Aug 26 '15 at 21:17
  • I think, the OP is thinking of fallacy (a mistaken belief, especially one based on unsound argument.) – Mari-Lou A Apr 13 '16 at 07:44
  • Ironically, groupthink seems to have escaped mention. – Phil Sweet Jul 24 '17 at 02:56

16 Answers16

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Proof by (repeated) assertion?

… is an informal fallacy in which a proposition is repeatedly restated regardless of contradiction. Sometimes, this may be repeated until challenges dry up, at which point it is asserted as fact due to its not being contradicted (argumentum ad nauseam). In other cases, its repetition may be cited as evidence of its truth, in a variant of the appeal to authority or appeal to belief fallacies.

factoid ?

an item of unreliable information that is reported and repeated so often that it becomes accepted as fact: he addresses the facts and factoids which have buttressed the film’s legend

Note (from same source): North American a brief or trivial item of news or information: how does the brain retain factoids that you remember from a history test at school?

The North American usage is different from the basic meaning of the word.

Community
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Kris
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  • Also, nice job with the "logical fallacy"/"cognitive bias" link... I should have added that myself. – d'alar'cop Feb 01 '14 at 12:21
  • Nice to be help. The first is phrase, not a word, so that could not be an answer in the strict sense. The second has a different meaning in AmE from what it is mostly ascribed with in literature. I had always known and used factoid in the sense of a fallacy, not a bit of trivia. – Kris Feb 01 '14 at 12:24
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    Yes, indeed, the "answer" is not the first part. My memory must have simply been unclear about the spuriousness of the "fact" - factoid (non-AmE) is the word I was searching for. – d'alar'cop Feb 01 '14 at 12:25
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How about, "received wisdom"? "The received wisdom is that Alberto Fujimori is responsible for the capture of the head of the guerilla group Sendero Luminoso, but in fact he had nothing to do with it." Also, "accepted version"?

user26732
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Woozle Effect

Or just woozle, referencing the woozle in Winnie the Pooh for which the only evidence is the reports of the woozle.

Proof by Citation

Jon Hanna
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  • I like "Proof by Citation." It reminded me of this discussion over this comic, which refers to a similar phenomenon with citogenesis, "a play on the word cytogenesis... [which is] the formation of cells and their development. Citogenesis... is a portmanteau of 'Citation' and 'Genesis'." –  Mar 28 '14 at 08:19
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'Apocryphal' is the word I've heard for this. The dictionary says it means, "of doubtful authenticity." But colloquially I think it often implies doubtful but often thought to be true (because it's been repeated).

geewhiz
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Try "Hearsay" or "Ouï-dire" from the french, then if not suitable go with "Tale" or "Tall Tale" if fallacies.

linguistourist
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  • I appreciate the additional work... Indeed 'factoid' may not really be the word I was searching for... – d'alar'cop Feb 01 '14 at 14:22
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    The problem with 'Hearsay' is that it implies that people think of it as rumour... whereas 'factoid' implies that it has been widely accepted as fact – d'alar'cop Feb 01 '14 at 14:30
  • In law, hearsay is a technical term which describes a type of evidence. Just because evidence is "hearsay" doesn't mean that it is unreliable. All documents, for example, are hearsay. It is too bad that the popular definition of the term seems to indicate evidence which is inherently unreliable. – user26732 Feb 21 '14 at 13:05
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This is perhaps a bit reaching but you could call it a 'recursive truth'. Something that is true because it is true.

Alternatives:

'Truth by repetition'

'Truth by mantra'

GenericJam
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0

The words stereotype or cliche might serve the purpose.

manu
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A single word could be "myth". A couple of double word phrases could be "conventional wisdom" or "urban legend".

Steve
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    Welcome to EL&U. The uses of myth, conventional wisdom, and urban legend are rather different; your answer would be improved by providing examples and an explanation of how each would be used. I also encourage you to take the site tour and review the help center for guidance. – choster Oct 30 '14 at 16:23
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What about this oneTautologous It is defined by being true by its logical form alone; and if logical might be oft repeated as a valid form of truth.

Parmenides Ephesus
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There is a word meaning something that is said and asserted to be true but actually untrue, the word is canard.

It does carry the connotation that the statement in question is believed to be true from having been bandied about a lot - in that sense it partly fulfils your requirements.

Canard: An unfounded rumour or story:

the old canard that LA is a cultural wasteland

Oxford Dictionaries. (accessed April 01, 2016).

Community
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Charon
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I wonder if you're thinking of idée reçue, which is French, but has by now become absorbed into English.
From the Encyclopedia Britannica: Idée reçue, ( French: “received idea”) an idea that is unexamined. The phrase is particularly associated with Gustave Flaubert, who in his Le Dictionnaire des idées reçues (published posthumously in 1913; Flaubert’s Dictionary of Accepted Ideas) mocked the use of clichés and platitudes and the uncritical reliance on accepted ideas.

Al Maki
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This sounds like a form of logical fallacy, and Wikipedia has a big list of those.

Maybe argument from repetition or perhaps proof by repeated assertion.

There are quotes noting this same point, for example: ‘A reliable way to make people believe in falsehoods is frequent repetition, because familiarity is not easily distinguished from truth. Authoritarian institutions and marketers have always known that fact.’, attributed to "Kahneman 2012 p. 62". Maybe one of the people who has taken note of this phenomenon has coined a word for it.

ghostarbeiter
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I think the word your are looking for is Heuristic.

Morgan
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    Hello Morgan and welcome to SE! When answering a signle-word-request question on the site, consider adding the following to your answer: 1. A dictionary definition of the word you've chosen to suggest. 2. An example sentence using that word (if applicable to the OP's request). 3. Why you think that word is the best choice for the situation. This will increase the quality of your answer and make it more informative, so that it is not just a word thrown into the fray. – Yavor Voynov Jul 24 '17 at 08:55
  • We're looking for long answers that provide some explanation and context. Please explain why your answer is right, ideally with citations. Answers that don't include explanations may be removed. – NVZ Jul 24 '17 at 16:32
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fallacy

a deceptive, misleading, or false notion, belief, etc.: That the world is flat was at one time a popular fallacy.

a misleading or unsound argument.

deceptive, misleading, or false nature; erroneousness.

any of various types of erroneous reasoning that render arguments logically unsound.

This is taken from: dicionary.com

M. C.
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Axiom plus synonyms. Axiom is the right direction, but a synonym might be better depending on what you're doing. Synonyms for 'axiom' https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/axiom

adage
aphorism
dictum
maxim
precept
proverb
theorem
apothegm
device
fundamental
moral
postulate
proposition
saying
truism
truth

Good luck!

KAREN HARDISON
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I think the word you might be looking for is an axiom or axiomatic.

toryan
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Patrick
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