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For other uses, see Anecdota.
For a comparison of anecdote with other kinds of stories, see Myth, legend, fairy tale, and fable. Traditional stories, expressed as Myth, Legend, Folklore, Fairy tale, and Fable, are used interchangeably in common speech as a synonym

An anecdote is a short tale narrating an interesting or amusing biographical incident. A narrative or story is a construct created in a suitable format (written spoken poetry prose images song Theater, or Dance) that describes a sequence of A biography (from the Greek words bíos (βίος meaning "life" and gráphein (γράφειν meaning "to write" is an account It may be as brief as the setting and provocation of a bon mot. Here are some examples of French words and phrases used by English speakers. An anecdote is always based on real life, an incident involving actual persons, whether famous or not, in real places. However, over time, modification in reuse may convert a particular anecdote to a fictional piece, one that is retold but is "too good to be true". Sometimes humorous, anecdotes are not jokes, because their primary purpose is not simply to evoke laughter, but to reveal a truth more general than the brief tale itself, or to delineate a character trait or the workings of an institution in such a light that it strikes in a flash of insight to their very essence. See also Mathematics of humor A joke is a short story or ironic depiction of a situation communicated with the intent of being humorous. Purpose is the Cognitive Awareness in Cause and effect linking for achieving a Goal in a given System, whether A brief monologue beginning "A man pops in a bar. . . " will be a joke. A brief monologue beginning "Once J. Edgar Hoover popped in a bar. WikipediaManual of Style (biographies#Postnominal initials . . " will be an anecdote. An anecdote thus is closer to the tradition of the parable than the patently invented fable with its animal characters and generic human figures— but it is distinct from the parable in the historical specificity which it claims. A parable is a brief succinct story in Prose or verse, that illustrates a Moral or Religious lesson A fable is a succinct story in prose or verse that features Animals Plants inanimate objects, or forces of nature which are An anecdote is not a metaphor nor does it bear a moral, a necessity in both parable and fable, merely an illustrative incident that is in some way an epitome. Metaphor (from the Greek: μεταφορά - metaphora, meaning "transfer" is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects A moral is a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event An epitome ( Greek epitemnein —to cut short is a summary or miniature form also used as a Synonym for embodiment

Note that in the context of Lithuanian, Bulgarian and Russian humor anecdote refers to any short humorous story without the need of factual or biographical origins. Lithuanian ( lietuvių kalba) is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognised as one of the official languages of the European Union. Bulgarian (български език IPA: ɛzˈik is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group Russian humour gains much of its wit from the great flexibility and richness of the Russian language, allowing for plays on words and unexpected associations

The word anecdote ("unpublished", literally "not given out") comes from Procopius of Caesarea, the biographer of Justinian I, who produced a work entitled Ανεκδοτα (Anekdota, variously translated as Unpublished Memoirs or Secret History), which is primarily a collection of short incidents from the private life of the Byzantine court. Procopius of Caesarea ( Προκόπιος ο Καισαρεύς, c Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus ( Greek: Φλάβιος Πέτρος Σαββάτιος Ιουστινιανός; known in English as Justinian I or Gradually, the term anecdote came to be applied to any short tale utilized to emphasize or illustrate whatever point the author wished to make.

As a rule, biographical anecdotes are considered too trivial or apocryphal to be included in a scholarly biography. Trivia (singular trivium) are unimportant (or "trivial" items especially of information A biography (from the Greek words bíos (βίος meaning "life" and gráphein (γράφειν meaning "to write" is an account

Anecdotes are typically oral and ephemeral. They are just one of the many types of stories told in organizations and the collection of anecdotes from people in an organization can be used to better understand its organizational culture (Snowden, 1999; Gabriel, 2000).

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Examples

The following are examples of anecdotes:

Cary Grant is said to have been reluctant to reveal his age to the public, having played the youthful lover for more years than would have been appropriate. One day, while he was sorting out some business with his agent, a telegram arrived from a journalist who was desperate to learn how old the actor was. A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for Actors Musicians models, and other people in various Entertainment A journalist (also called a newspaperman) is a person who practices Journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events trends It read: HOW OLD CARY GRANT? Grant, who happened to open it himself, immediately cabled back: OLD CARY GRANT FINE. HOW YOU?

A more sophisticated anecdote concerns Sidney Morgenbesser, then Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Columbia University, as follows:

One day in New York City, Morgenbesser put his pipe in his mouth as he was ascending the subway steps. Sidney Morgenbesser ( September 22, 1921 &ndash August 1, 2004) was a Columbia University philosopher The meaning of the word professor ( Latin: professor, person who professes to be an expert in some art or science teacher of highest rank) varies Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Columbia University is a private University in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. The City of New York A pipe is a tool used for Smoking. The designs of pipes vary considerably but for the most part they are reusable and consist of a chamber or bowl in which the substance to A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway or metro(politan system is an electric passenger railway A policeman approached and told him that there was no smoking on the subway. Morgenbesser pointed out that he was leaving the subway, not entering it, and that he had not yet lit up. The cop repeated his injunction. Morgenbesser repeated his observation. After a few such exchanges, the cop saw he was beaten and fell back on the oldest standby of enfeebled authority: "If I let you do it, I'd have to let everyone do it. " To this the old philosopher replied, "Who do you think you are—Kant?" His last word was misconstrued, and the whole question of the Categorical Imperative had to be hashed out down at the police station. Immanuel Kant (ɪmanuəl kant 22 April 1724 12 February 1804 was an 18th-century German Philosopher from the Prussian city of Königsberg The categorical imperative is the central philosophical concept of the Moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant, and of modern Deontological ethics Morgenbesser won the argument.

For many years Reader's Digest featured "My Most Embarrassing Moment", anecdotes with the general theme, "life's like that", a common reaction to a well-told anecdote. Reader's Digest is a monthly general-interest family Magazine co-founded in 1922 by Lila Bell Wallace and DeWitt Wallace.

From 2006 onwards, Canadian CBC Television's The Hour has been airing a segment called "Best Story Ever". The Hour is a Canadian television Newsmagazine broadcast on CBC Television. During these segments, staff from CBC Television and CBC Radio would discuss interesting anecdotes that happened to them. Most of the stories are humorous.

"Merely anecdotal": anecdotal evidence

Main article: Anecdotal evidence

Anecdotal evidence is an informal account of evidence in the form of an anecdote, or hearsay. The expression anecdotal evidence has two quite distinct meanings Evidence in its broadest sense includes anything that is used to determine or demonstrate the Truth of an assertion Not to be confused with Heresy. Hearsay is a legal term referring to the use of out of court statements as evidence The term is often used in contrast to scientific evidence, as evidence that cannot be investigated using the scientific method. Scientific evidence is Evidence which serves to either support or counter a scientific Theory or Hypothesis. Scientific method refers to bodies of Techniques for investigating phenomena The problem with arguing based on anecdotal evidence is that anecdotal evidence is not necessarily typical; only statistical evidence can determine how typical something is. Misuse of anecdotal evidence is a logical fallacy. A fallacy is a component of an Argument which being demonstrably flawed in its Logic or form renders the argument invalid in whole

When used in advertising or promotion of a product, service, or idea, anecdotal evidence is often called a testimonial and is banned in some jurisdictions. Advertising is a form of Communication that typically attempts to persuade potential Customers to Purchase or to consume more of a particular Brand For the use of the term testimonial in sport (especially Football) see Testimonial match. The term is also sometimes used in a legal context to describe certain kinds of testimony. Psychologists have found that people are more likely to remember notable examples than the typical example.

In all forms of anecdotal evidence, objective independent assessment may be in doubt. "n objective account is one which attempts to capture the nature of the object studied in a way that does not depend on any features of the particular subject who studies it This is a consequence of the informal way the information is gathered, documented, presented, or any combination of the three. The term is often used to describe evidence for which there is an absence of documentation. This leaves verification dependent on the credibility of the party presenting the evidence.

See also

References

External links

Dictionary

anecdote

-noun

  1. A short account of an incident, often humorous.
  2. A previously untold secret account of an incident.
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