If I have provided you with any factoids in the course of Atlantic Trivia, I apologize, because a factoid, properly, is not a small, interesting fact. A factoid is a piece of information that looks like a fact but is untrue. Norman Mailer popularized the term in 1973, very intentionally giving it the suffix -oid. Is a humanoid not a creature whose appearance suggests humanity but whose nature belies it? Thus is it with factoid.
So what of those fun, itty bits of info that are correct? In the 1990s, William Safire suggested factlet for the small-but-true fact (and The Atlantic in 2012 agreed), though minifact is sometimes used. And for the statements somewhere in between interesting and untrue—factini, perhaps? Start with five parts fascinating to one part wrong; adjust to taste.
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Monday, November 17, 2025
- U.S. pennies are plated in copper but principally made of what other metal at the end of the alphabet?
— From Caity Weaver’s “Pennies Are Trash Now” - What beverage is traditionally made of ground tencha leaves, prepared with a whisk, and drunk from a ceramic bowl called a cha-wan?
— From Ellen Cushing’s “The [REDACTED] Problem” - Broken chains and shackles were originally intended to be held in the left hand of what American landmark before a new design replaced those items with a tablet?
— From Clint Smith’s “Tell Students the Truth About American History”
And by the way, did you know that for more than six decades the United States produced half-cent pieces? They were 100 percent copper and stamped with Lady Liberty, who sported a variety of hairdos over the years. The coin was almost the size of a modern quarter, which seems big until you consider that at the end of its run, the half-cent had a purchasing power of about 17 cents in today’s money.
Still, in 1857 it was deemed insufficiently valuable to keep minting—at 17 contemporary cents! Considering that the government is once again in the coin-discontinuing mood, the nickel and dime might want to watch out, too.
Until tomorrow!
Answers:
- Zinc. Penny minting abruptly stopped last week. The coins will soon drop out of circulation, and their composition—zinc is much less valuable than copper—makes them unappealing to recycle. What this means, Caity writes, is that those 300 billion pennies floating around are now Americans’ problem. Read more.
- Matcha. This old-school Japanese preparation is a far piece from the energy drinks and sugary beverages that new companies are marketing as matcha. Ellen explores the ramifications of the collision between matcha’s tradition and its current world-historic demand. Read more.
- The Statue of Liberty. The gift from France, Clint writes, was meant not just to welcome immigrants but also to celebrate America’s abolition of slavery; he wonders whether the change was intended to make the statue “more palatable” to a wider audience. That instinct has never gone away, and it’s the job of educators to resist it. Read more.
How did you do? Come back tomorrow for more questions, or click here for last week’s. And if you think up a great question after reading an Atlantic story—or simply want to share a top-notch fact—send it my way at [email protected].
The post Today’s Atlantic Trivia: Whisk the Pennies Away appeared first on The Atlantic.
