Revised as of
4 July 2023
You can fax the facts and the facts can be faxed or you can check a FAQs page for the facts.
Now, the facts are that both facts and FAQs are strictly nouns while fax is quite the busy bee what with being an adjective, noun, and verb. So do your readers a favor and don’t FAQs the facts to them . . . fax ’em instead.
This Word Confusion trio is an heterograph.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
If you found this post on “Facts vs FAQs vs Fax” interesting, consider subscribing to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.
You may also want to explore the post, “Fact versus Factoid“.
| Facts | FAQs | Fax |
|---|---|---|
03 MAMA Rice Vermicelli Duck Flavour – Nutrition Facts by Jason Lam is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Flickr. |
FAQs About Editing, Critiquing, and Reviewing” courtesy of KD Did It. |
Telefax is Tumi-1983’s own work under the CC BY-SA 3.0 licenses, via Wikimedia Commons. — An Olivetti fax machine. |
| Part of Grammar: | ||
| Plural of the noun: fact
Plural: facts |
Plural of the noun: FAQ
Acronym; Noun Plural: FAQs, FAQ’s |
Adjective; Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: faxes Third person present verb: faxes Non-standard spelling for facts |
A thing that is indisputably the case
Something known to exist or to have happened A truth known by actual experience or observation
Something said to be true or supposed to have happened [Law; often, facts] An actual or alleged event or circumstance, as distinguished from its legal effect or consequence A piece of information |
Acronym: [Computing] Frequently Asked Question Noun:
|
Adjective: Facsimile Noun:
Verb, intransitive: Verb, transitive:
|
| Examples: | ||
| The facts are, there is no basis for your supposition.
Get me all the facts of this case. She lacks political experience — facts that become clear when she appears in public. Scientists gather facts about plant growth. The facts given by the witness are highly questionable. Most parents hate having to tell their child the facts of life. Didn’t your parents explain the facts of life to you? |
It’s best to explore the FAQs page before emailing a company with your question.
The FAQs page sometimes has answers to questions you didn’t know you had. FAQs give basic information for users of a website. |
Adjective: This is a faxed document. I hate these fax orders. Noun: We bought one of those combination printer-fax-copy-scanner machines. Reporters sometimes send in their articles by fax. “Could this fax be any longer?” he asked with a snarl. Verb, intransitive: Verb, transitive: Fax that brochure to the buyer. She can fax the agreement to me. |
| Derivatives: | ||
| Adjective: fact-based, fact-check, fact-finding, factful, factive, factual, Noun: fact-finder, fact-finding, facticity, factuality, factualness, factum Verb, transitive: fact-check |
Adjective: faxed | |
| History of the Word: | ||
| Late 15th century from the Latin factum, originally as an act or feat. Later it was interpreted as a bad deed, a crime and surviving in the phrase before (or after) the fact.
Late 16th century is the earliest use of current usage, i.e., truth, reality |
1985-90: f(requently) a(sked) q(uestions) | 1940s: An abbreviation of facsimile. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Facts vs FAQs vs Fax
Apple Dictionary.com
Dictionary.com: fact, FAQ, fax
Pinterest Photo Credits:
“FAQs about Junk Faxes” is provided by the Federal Communications Commission and is a federal web page that explains the why of junk faxes and how to get rid of them.
