Anecdotes

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈæ.nɪk.doʊts/

Definitions

1. Brief and engaging personal stories told to entertain or illustrate a point
2. Concise accounts of incidents from someone's life shared to amuse or inform
3. Short narratives describing amusing or noteworthy events from real life

Etymology: The word "anecdotes" is simply the plural of "anecdote," and the singular is the more interesting story. It comes from Ancient Greek "anékdotos," meaning "unpublished," built from "an-" ("not") and "ekdotos" ("published"), which itself derives from "ekdídōmi," "I give out." So the original sense was of accounts that had never been given to the public, a far cry from the lively tales of dinner parties and speeches that the word now describes. The term reached English in the late 17th century through French "anecdote," and it kept that bookish flavour for a while. The Greek sense of unpublished material was a sign that the stories were valued for their personal, private character, and the modern meaning of brief, entertaining tales grew out of that idea of the hidden or intimate detail.

Synonyms: tales, stories, narratives, accounts, yarns