I've always thought that an anecdote was a short funny story that had actually never happened, but was rather created by common people in order to satirize, ridicule or to laugh at someone. But recently I noticed that native English speakers usually call it simply "joke". For example "Let me tell you a joke. One day a French, an American and an Italian meet at one restaurant…" If it's really the case, then what is an anecdote then? Would the word "anecdote" mean something else or, perhaps, something more specific for native English speakers? How often they use this word?
Learn English – an “anecdote” as opposed to a “joke”
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Best Answer
Anecdote is a very common false friend for native speakers of Russian (and other Slavic languages, I believe). In Russian, анекдот means exactly what you describe: "a short fictitious funny story, a joke". In English, it does not. Here's the Merriam-Webster definition:
And here's what Wiktionary has to say: