 Mailer described factoids as "facts which have no existence before appearing in a magazine or newspaper", and created the word by combining the word "fact" and the ending "-oid" to mean "similar but not the same".The "Washington Times" described Mailer's new word as referring to "something that looks like a fact, could be a fact, but in fact is not a fact".Accordingly, factoids may give rise to, or arise from, common misconceptions and urban legends.