Do you know where the word trivia comes from? If not, it’s definitely a fun bit of trivia that you’ll want to know! (LOL–couldn’t resist!)
The official meaning of trivia is “bits of information of little consequence.” It became a common word in 1932 but has been around at least since 1902, when a book was published by that name, featuring essays on little-known facts and commonplace moments.
Where, though, did author Logan Pearsall Smith come up with that title? Directly from Latin! Trivia is literally just tri + via. Three … roads. Um … why, you may ask? Well, because at crossroads in the Roman empire–especially where more than 2 roads met up–there would spring up inns and roadhouses and other public, common areas. It was a place where anyone could be and where information was shared. Because in Latin trivialis (the adjective form) meant “public,” it also came to mean “common, commonplace.”
Trivia became a game made popular among college students in the US in the 1960s, and Trivial Pursuit, the board game, became wildly popular after its release in 1982.
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.