anecdote

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 10, 2009 is: anecdote • \AN-ik-doht\ • noun : a usually short narrative of an interesting, amusing, or biographical incident Examples: Pastor Andrews often included light-hearted anecdotes from his personal experience in his Sunday sermons. Did you know? The Byzantine official Procopius wrote three historical works in Greek. In the first two, he dealt with wars and public works projects, but the third was something of a departure from this kind of history. Referred to as "Anekdota," from the Greek "a-" meaning "not," and "ekdidonai," meaning "to publish," it contained bitter attacks on the emperor Justinian, his wife, and other notables of contemporary Constantinople. Understandably, it was not published until after its writer's death. English speakers originally used an anglicized version of the book's name for similar secret or unpublished histories or biographies, and by the 17th century, the meaning of "anecdote" had been broadened to cover any interesting or amusing personal tale. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.