anekdoter

Anekdoter, or anecdotes, are short narrative accounts of real incidents or people, usually told to illustrate a point, entertain, or reveal something about character. The term is used in several languages, including Swedish and Norwegian, and is often treated as a loanword in English. The English cognate anecdote shares the same origin: from Greek anékdotos meaning unpublished, through Latin and French.

A typical anecdote focuses on a single moment or incident, is concise, and is told in a direct, often informal voice. It may be humorous, revealing, surprising, or instructive. An anecdote's reliability varies: some describe factual events; others are embellished, exaggerated, or apocryphal and passed through oral tradition. In literature and journalism, anecdotes can serve as evidence, a microcosm of a larger point, or a means to humanize abstract topics.

Uses and roles include biographies and interviews to illustrate character; speeches and presentations to make points memorable; humor and stand-up to elicit reactions; and corporate contexts to convey lessons learned. Distinctions from related forms: an anecdote is typically shorter and centered on a single incident, unlike a full narrative or parable, and may not carry a universal moral.

Examples are generally brief: a personal story about a misstep that led to a wiser approach, or a historical vignette that highlights a trait of a well-known figure.