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Definition: Story |
StoryNoun1. An account describing incidents or events; "a farfetched narrative"; "after dinner he told the children stories of his adventures". 2. A piece of fiction that narrates a chain of related events; "he writes stories for the magazines". 3. Structure consisting of a room or set of rooms comprising a single level of a multilevel building; "what level is the office on?". 4. A record or narrative description of past events: "a history of France"; "he gave an inaccurate account of the plot to kill the president"; "the story of exposure to lead". 5. A short account of the news; "the report of his speech"; "the story was on the 11 o'clock news"; "the account of his speech that was given on the evening news made the governor furious". 6. A trivial lie; "he told a fib about eating his spinach"; "how can I stop my child from telling stories?". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "story" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Satire | STORY, n. A narrative, commonly untrue. The truth of the stories here following has, however, not been successfully impeached. One evening Mr. Rudolph Block, of New York, found himself seated at dinner alongside Mr. Percival Pollard, the distinguished critic. "Mr. Pollard," said he, "my book, The Biography of a Dead Cow, is published anonymously, but you can hardly be ignorant of its authorship. Yet in reviewing it you speak of it as the work of the Idiot of the Century. Do you think that fair criticism?" "I am very sorry, sir," replied the critic, amiably, "but it did not occur to me that you really might not wish the public to know who wrote it." Mr. W.C. Morrow, who used to live in San Jose, California, was addicted to writing ghost stories which made the reader feel as if a stream of lizards, fresh from the ice, were streaking it up his back and hiding in his hair. San Jose was at that time believed to be haunted by the visible spirit of a noted bandit named Vasquez, who had been hanged there. The town was not very well lighted, and it is putting it mildly to say that San Jose was reluctant to be out o' nights. One particularly dark night two gentlemen were abroad in the loneliest spot within the city limits, talking loudly to keep up their courage, when they came upon Mr. J.J. Owen, a well-known journalist. "Why, Owen," said one, "what brings you here on such a night as this? You told me that this is one of Vasquez' favorite haunts! And you are a believer. Aren't you afraid to be out?" "My dear fellow," the journalist replied with a drear autumnal cadence in his speech, like the moan of a leaf-laden wind, "I am afraid to be in. I have one of Will Morrow's stories in my pocket and I don't dare to go where there is light enough to read it." Rear-Admiral Schley and Representative Charles F. Joy were standing near the Peace Monument, in Washington, discussing the question, Is success a failure? Mr. Joy suddenly broke off in the middle of an eloquent sentence, exclaiming: "Hello! I've heard that band before. Santlemann's, I think." "I don't hear any band," said Schley. "Come to think, I don't either," said Joy; "but I see General Miles coming down the avenue, and that pageant always affects me in the same way as a brass band. One has to scrutinize one's impressions pretty closely, or one will mistake their origin." While the Admiral was digesting this hasty meal of philosophy General Miles passed in review, a spectacle of impressive dignity. When the tail of the seeming procession had passed and the two observers had recovered from the transient blindness caused by its effulgence -- "He seems to be enjoying himself," said the Admiral. "There is nothing," assented Joy, thoughtfully, "that he enjoys one-half so well." The illustrious statesman, Champ Clark, once lived about a mile from the village of Jebigue, in Missouri. One day he rode into town on a favorite mule, and, hitching the beast on the sunny side of a street, in front of a saloon, he went inside in his character of teetotaler, to apprise the barkeeper that wine is a mocker. It was a dreadfully hot day. Pretty soon a neighbor came in and seeing Clark, said: "Champ, it is not right to leave that mule out there in the sun. He'll roast, sure! -- he was smoking as I passed him." "O, he's all right," said Clark, lightly; "he's an inveterate smoker." The neighbor took a lemonade, but shook his head and repeated that it was not right. He was a conspirator. There had been a fire the night before: a stable just around the corner had burned and a number of horses had put on their immortality, among them a young colt, which was roasted to a rich nut-brown. Some of the boys had turned Mr. Clark's mule loose and substituted the mortal part of the colt. Presently another man entered the saloon. "For mercy's sake!" he said, taking it with sugar, "do remove that mule, barkeeper: it smells." "Yes," interposed Clark, "that animal has the best nose in Missouri. But if he doesn't mind, you shouldn't." In the course of human events Mr. Clark went out, and there, apparently, lay the incinerated and shrunken remains of his charger. The boys idd not have any fun out of Mr. Clarke, who looked at the body and, with the non-committal expression to which he owes so much of his political preferment, went away. But walking home late that night he saw his mule standing silent and solemn by the wayside in the misty moonlight. Mentioning the name of Helen Blazes with uncommon emphasis, Mr. Clark took the back track as hard as ever he could hook it, and passed the night in town. General H.H. Wotherspoon, president of the Army War College, has a pet rib-nosed baboon, an animal of uncommon intelligence but imperfectly beautiful. Returning to his apartment one evening, the General was surprised and pained to find Adam (for so the creature is named, the general being a Darwinian) sitting up for him and wearing his master's best uniform coat, epaulettes and all. "You confounded remote ancestor!" thundered the great strategist, "what do you mean by being out of bed after naps? -- and with my coat on!" Adam rose and with a reproachful look got down on all fours in the manner of his kind and, scuffling across the room to a table, returned with a visiting-card: General Barry had called and, judging by an empty champagne bottle and several cigar-stumps, had been hospitably entertained while waiting. The general apologized to his faithful progenitor and retired. The next day he met General Barry, who said: "Spoon, old man, when leaving you last evening I forgot to ask you about those excellent cigars. Where did you get them?" General Wotherspoon did not deign to reply, but walked away. "Pardon me, please," said Barry, moving after him; "I was joking of course. Why, I knew it was not you before I had been in the room fifteen minutes.". Source: Devil's Dictionary. |
Finance | The part of a building included between two floors. (references) |
Food & Agriculture | A roughly horizontal stratum, i. e. layer, of vegetation formed by a plant community, in forests essentially by their canopy layers. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The legend of Osiris, Isis, Horus and Set is one of the most powerful in Egyptian mythology.
Osiris taught men how to farm the land and make wine and he was much loved by the people. Set was envious of his brother and so conspired to kill him. He secretly had a coffin made especially for his brother and then held a party inviting his unced that he would give it away to whoever it fitted. A few people tried the coffin, but alas they did not fit. Set encouraged his brother Osiris to try the coffin. As soon as he lay back the lid was slammed down and sealed shut! Set and his cronies carried the coffin to the Nile and threw it in, drowning Osiris. This action came to represent the annual flooding of the Nile.
Isis with the help of her sister Nephthys brought him back to life using their magical powers. Before revenge could be brought upon Set he struck again and this time dismembered Osiris into thirteen parts (some accounts say fifteen) and hid them thoughout the land. Isis searched the land for the pieces and spent many years doing so for Set had hidden them well, but she was not able to find all of them. The missing piece was his member, but she put together what she had and once again brought Osiris back to life.
This time she took no chances and kept him hidden until he had made her pregnant. Isis's magic could not keep him alive like this for too long and he died once more. The other gods decided to make him king of the underworld where he reigned over the dead but not before his death had been avenged.
The son of Osiris and Isis was Horus, who from birth sought to avenge his father's murder. He was brought up in secret in the marshes of the Nile delta. As soon as he was old enough the two met in battle. The fight was long and bloody; Horus lost one of his eyes in the battle and Set lost a testicle.
The conflict was brought before the rest of the gods. They decided in favor of Horus and gave kingship of the country to him. Set was condemned as the evil one and banished to the outlands. In other versions the two deities were reconciled and represented the union of Upper and Lower Egypt.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Legend of Osiris and Isis."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Plot in literature, theater, movies
According to Aristotle's Poetics, a plot in literature is "the arrangement of incidents" that (ideally) each follow plausibly from the other. The plot is like the chalk outline that guides the painter's brush. An example of the type of plot which follows these sorts of lines is the linear plot of development to be discerned within the pages of a bildungsroman novel.Aristotle notes that a string of unconnected speeches, no matter how well-executed, will not have as much emotional impact as a series of tightly connected speeches delivered by imperfect speakers.
The concept of plot and the associated concept of construction of plot, emplotment, has of course developed considerably since Aristotle made these insightful observations. The episodic narrative tradition which Aristotle indicates has systematically been subverted over the intervening years, to the extent that the concept of beginning, middle, end are merely regarded as a conventional device when no other is to hand.
This is particularly true in the cinematic tradition where the folding and reversal of episodic narrative is now a commonplace. Moreover, many writers and film directors, particularly those with a proclivity for the Modernist or other subsequent and derivative movements which emerged during or after the early 20th century seem more concerned that plot is an encumbrance to their artistic medium than an assistance.
See also: plot device
Plot in printing
A plot is a drawn graphicalical representation of data, such as the output of a plotter or the process of plotting data by hand. Plots are used in
- Mathematics: plotting the graph of a function
- Meteorology: weather plots - isobar, isotherm, isogon, isotach, isohume, isodrosotherm
- CPU design design: plots of integrated circuits can resemble die photos.
Other meanings of plot
- A small piece of planted ground, as for a garden. A cemetery provides plots for dead bodies.
- A plot is a planned conspiracy. E.g.,the Babington plot, July 20 Plot or The Passover Plot.
Extrenal Links
- Georges Polti's 36 Dramatic Situations
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Plot."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The short story, as a form in writing, is prose writing of less than 10,000 to 20,000 words (and usually more than 500 words) which may or may not have a narrative arc.
If a work has more than 20,000 words it is classified as a novella or a novellete. Still beyond that, into the 50,000 word range and above, a work will be classified as a full-fledged novel, though it should be noted that these words counts are very arbitrary and have more to do with what is saleable than with any sort of aesthetic decision. Science fiction or fantasy novels are usually over 80,000 words in length because that is what the market demands, while literary novels can dwindle down to as few as 40,000 words.
Perhaps the first short story written in the English language, the entry in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 755 AD gives us a good idea of what the core purpose of a short story might be.
Essentially, the short story was the evolution of a new form that seemed to rise spontaneously to meet a need. Because the Chronicle as we have it now was compiled by King Alfred the Great near the turn of the last millennium, we might assume that this piece long post-dates earlier English prose writing like Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People. But the chronicle is actually a compilation of numerous older sources and we can safely say that the older entries especially are much nearer to their stated dates than the compilation as a whole.
The Chronicle is almost entirely composed of brief entries like the following:
A.D. 754. This year died Cuthred, king of the West-Saxons; and Sebright, his relative, succeeded to the kingdom, which he held one year; Cyneard succeeded Humferth in the see of Winchester; and Canterbury was this year on fire.
What happens to bring about the much longer and more fully detailed 755? We can only speculate. But it seems that several events must have converged. First the author had to have the extra information. Second he must have determined that it added something to his overall text. Chronicler's of the time would have had access to some amount of information and it seems likely that they would have exerted editorial control over what was and was not important. That is, there was probably more information available than what ended up in their respective chronicles. So why add this particular story? Frequently we can see that we only get entries of the "so-and-so-died" variety, and 755 could easily have been no different. It seems possible, likely even, that this was an aesthetic choice on the part of the chronicler. The story, when read as an aesthetic experience, reveals much more in the way of color and drama than in actual historical information. It is a tale of mistresses and sex, trickery and revenge, loyalty and betrayal. It is, plainly, artful, if only in a rudimentary way.
But the literary art of the time was poetry, heroic verse like we see in Beowulf or Finnsburgh. So why write in prose what you can write in poetic form?
That is the eternal conundrum of the short story, and its longer prose brethren.
Since the chronicle was printed, short stories have had spurts of popularity and long periods of absence. Geoffrey Chaucer, in his book Canterbury Tales wrote a collection of something close to short stories. And folk tradition from the beginning of time has contained something narrative that wasn't precisely poetry that we might imagine to be a short story (Little Red Riding Hood, anyone?) But the short story as we know it today didn't emerge as a popular form until the end of the eighteenth century.
And like so many things in writing, it was in part a creation of marketing.
Magazines are the venue of the modern short story. St. Nicholas was an early venue for the tales of Washington Irving for example. Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, and others like them created these brief tales because they fit nicely amongst the advertisements and the recipes. The desire to tell a short tale in prose may stem from its resemblance to the writing of history, the sense of authority and verisimiltude that prose uniquely confers. Due to its origins in historical writing, prose can command weight and import . It is a form that forces you into a one-on-one connection with the author in a private setting. It demands a kind of attention and commitment that oral poetry typically can't match. Certainly our old chronicler decided that what he had was good enough for a chronicle, but not worth the time for a poem. He may even have preferred his stodgy, literate prose form to the florid oral poetry of his day. But certainly into modern times, those aesthetic concerns were bolstered substantially by the fact that magazines didn't have room for whole novels. Nor did they have as much use for poetry which seems to waste all of that perfectly good paper with a lot of white space.
Thus the modern short story was born from a combination of aesthetics and economics.
Its concerns remain very much the same now as they were 1000 years ago. There is a kind of austerity to the prose short story. It's no accident that Edgar Allan Poe used this form to invent the detective story. There is no better form to mimic the cold, clear style of a police report or a newspaper account. And it's no wonder that newspaper man Ernest Hemingway picked up the form one hundred years after Poe.
Certainly the form has many practioners and many styles. These days especially, it traipses about the range of possible styles and genres, flirting with all sorts of poetic abstractions and excesses. Nonetheless, what was true 1000 years ago is still true today: the short story is a quick form set for quick action. Ephemerality dominates over longevity. There is no space, nor desire, for the weighty and lengthy examinations of the novel or epic poem. Only quick truths need apply: epiphanies, suprises, twist endings and suicides. Novels are divine because they, like gods, go on forever. But short stories are the perfect mirror of mortal man.
See: Short story authors
Further Reading and External Links
- Large online library of contemporary and classic short stories
- Short stories
- Inspiring short stories
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Short story."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
See:
- As literature a story can be
- A short story or a tall tale,
- A novel or specifically an epistolary novel
- A fable, fairy tale or frame tale.
- A tale should not be confused with a tail.
- Plot - that holds a story together, also in plays and movies;
- Floor - as of a building. E.g., A 2 story house.
See also Storytelling
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Story."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The Story Bridge is the second crossing of the Brisbane River.
Story Bridge, Brisbane
Story Bridge by Night (larger)It was opened on 6th July, 1940 by Sir Leslie Orme Wilson, Governor of Queensland and named for John Douglas Story, a senior and influential public servant.
The design for the bridge was based heavily on that of the Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal.
It carries three lanes of traffic in either direction as well as a shared pedestrian and cycle way flanking each side.
Link: http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/community_facilities/cultural/naval_stores/virtual/story_bridge.shtml
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Story Bridge, Brisbane."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Story is a town located in Sheridan County, Wyoming. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 887.Geography
Story is located at 44°34'37" North, 106°54'29" West (44.576978, -106.908109)1. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 35.6 km² (13.7 mi²). 35.6 km² (13.7 mi²) of it is land and none of the area is covered with water.Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there are 887 people, 420 households, and 272 families residing in the town. The population density is 24.9/km² (64.6/mi²). There are 667 housing units at an average density of 18.7/km² (48.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 98.87% White, 0.11% African American, 0.34% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.23% from other races, and 0.23% from two or more races. 1.35% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 420 households out of which 20.5% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.1% are married couples living together, 4.3% have a female householder with no husband present, and 35.2% are non-families. 30.0% of all households are made up of individuals and 13.1% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.11 and the average family size is 2.56. In the town the population is spread out with 17.4% under the age of 18, 4.2% from 18 to 24, 21.2% from 25 to 44, 34.9% from 45 to 64, and 22.3% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 48 years. For every 100 females there are 109.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 103.0 males. The median income for a household in the town is $33,125, and the median income for a family is $45,000. Males have a median income of $29,028 versus $23,958 for females. The per capita income for the town is $20,053. 15.3% of the population and 12.1% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 18.6% are under the age of 18 and 11.5% are 65 or older.Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Story, Wyoming."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A tall tale is a story that claims to explain the reason for some natural phenomenon, or sometimes illustrates how skilled/intelligent/powerful the subject of the tale was. In either case, the tall tale is fictional, and usually obviously so. Very often, the tall tale is told in a manner that is intentionally ridiculous.The tall tale is a fundamental element of American folk literature. The tall tale's origins are seen in the bragging contests that often occurred when the rough men of the American frontier gathered.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Tall tale."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
"The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. It tells of a man who commits murder, but is then so taunted by the sound of the murdered man's heart that he admits to the deed. Poe's story "The Black Cat" also tells of a murderer's self-destructive guilt.An animated film version by UPA, The Tell-Tale Heart (1953), is included among the films preserved in the United States National Film Registry.
The Tell-Tale Heart is one of several songs inspired by Poe stories on the album Tales of Mystery and Imagination (original version 1976, CD remix 1987) by The Alan Parsons Project. It is sung in an appropriately hysterical style by Arthur Brown.
In 2003, Lou Reed released The Raven an album solely based on poems and short-stories by Edgar Allan Poe. Featured was the author's The Tell-Tale Heart.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "The Tell-Tale Heart."
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
| Sty | English | Story | Insurance |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Synonyms: StorySynonyms: account (n), chronicle (n), fib (n), floor (n), history (n), level (n), narration (n), narrative (n), news report (n), recital (n), report (n), storey (n), tale (n), taradiddle (n), tarradiddle (n), write up (n), yarn (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Description | Narrative, history; memoir, memorials; annals; (chronicle); saga; tradition, legend, story, tale, historiette; personal narrative, journal, life, adventures, fortunes, experiences, confessions; anecdote, ana, trait. |
Excitability | Passion, excitement, flush, heat; fever, heat; fire, flame, fume, blood boiling; tumult; effervescence, ebullition; boiling over; whiff, gust, story, tempest; scene, breaking out, burst, fit, paroxysm, explosion; outbreak, outburst; agony. |
Layer | Noun: layer, stratum, strata, course, bed, zone, substratum, substrata, floor, flag, stage, story, tier, slab, escarpment; table, tablet; dess; flagstone; board, plank; trencher, platter. |
Receptacle | Chamber, apartment, room, cabin; office, court, hall, atrium; suite of rooms, apartment, flat, story; saloon, salon, parlor; by-room, cubicle; presence chamber; sitting room, best room, keeping room, drawing room, reception room, state room; gallery, cabinet, closet; pew, box; boudoir; adytum, sanctum; bedroom, dormitory; refectory, dining room, salle-a-manger; nursery, schoolroom; library, study; studio; billiard room, smoking room; den; stateroom, tablinum, tenement. |
Untruth | Noun: untruth, falsehood, lie, story, thing that is not, fib, bounce, crammer, taradiddle, whopper; jhuth. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Story |
| English words defined with "story": adventure story ♦ cock-and-bull story ♦ fairy story, Fish story ♦ lead story, love story ♦ mystery story ♦ sob story. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "story": background story, BANBURY STORY OF A COCK AND A BULL, Bragi's Story ♦ CANTERBURY STORY, COCK AND A BULL STORY, Cock and Bull Story ♦ Milesian Story ♦ Oaks Famous in Story ♦ story analyst, Story of Mel. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "story": sirloin. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Story" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. German (mandibulate, saga, spiel, story), Swedish (story). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Let me see if I've got this: The third story on the news tonight was that someone I didn't know 13 years ago, when I wasn't President, participated in a demonstration where no laws were being broken in protest of something that so many people were against it doesn't exist anymore (The American President; writing credit: Aaron Sorkin.) Every story you've ever heard about vampires, werewolves, or aliens, is the system assimilating some program that's doing something they're not supposed to be doing (The Matrix Reloaded; writing credit: Andy Wachowski; Larry Wachowski) Her eyes alone told the story of her age, staring out from under her doll-like curls, with a questioning that will one day need an answer (Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles; writing credit: Anne Rice) This is a true story of how friendships run deeper than blood (Sleepers; writing credit: Barry Levinson) And then afterwards, we can let Monsieur Zidler know how we would prefer the story to end. (Moulin Rouge!; writing credit: Baz Luhrmann; Craig Pearce) | |
Lyrics | Acknowledge me as i run down my life story (Life Story; performing artist: Black Rob) This is the story of a girl, (Absolutely (Story Of A Girl); performing artist: Nine Days) Is the music to the story in your eyes (The Story In Your Eyes; performing artist: The Moody Blues) And this could be the story in am dream (Story in a Dream; performing artist: Train) So baby, what's the story (What It Takes; performing artist: Aerosmith) | |
Clever | To make a long story short, don't tell it. (references; author: unknown) Death is not a period but a comma in the story of life. (references; author: unknown) Four-word story of failure: Hired, tired, mired, fired. (references; author: unknown) Fairy Tale: A horror story to prepare children for the newspapers. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Love Story (2001) The Donald Duck Story (1974) A Dragon Story Bruce Lee (1974) Ghost Story (1974) Listen to My Story (1974) | |
Song Titles | Two Story House (performing artist: George Jones/Tammy Wynette) Westside Story (performing artist: LFO) School Story (performing artist: OPPA 007) Both Sides Of The Story (performing artist: Phil Collins) My True Story (performing artist: The Jive Five) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
| ||
Periodicals | |||
Theater & Movies |
| ||
Music |
| ||
High Tech |
| ||
Consumer Goods | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Pictured is a family scene, with a mother reading a story to several children. She is seated in a rocking chair and they are surrounding her on the floor in a family room setting. These people are part of a Mormon family. The Mormons are presently being studied for their low cancer death rate, well below the national average. Credit: Linda Bartlett (photographer). |  | A 9 year-old white child is pictured here in a home setting reading a story to her pet bird. She is a long-term survivor of massive abdominal surgery at age 3 for neuroblastoma. She is presently disease-free. Credit: Linda Bartlett (photographer). |
 | Magazine cover story titles related to outbreak of Legionnaires' disease. Legionellosis. Credit: CDC. |  | Five story PHS Hospital located in Tacoma, Washington. Credit: CDC. |
 | Pictures taken in infrared and visible light by the Hubble telescope recount a vivid story of ... Credit: NASA. |  | Hubble Space Telescope (HST) being refurbished during the STS 61 flight.Astronauts Story Musgrave and Jeffrey Hoffman are seen during the last of the five EVAs. Australia's west coast can be seen in the background. Credit: NASA. |
 | The camp at Plain View Delightful gopher story as caption of photo Triangulation party of Wilbur Porter. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |  | Overhead view of a TIROS satellite showing interior arrangement of satellite sensing packages including TV cameras and infra-red sensors. In: "TIROS A Story of Achievement" RCA, February 28, 1964, Figure 2. Credit: NOAA in Space. |
 | TIROS performance summary as of February 10, 1964. In: "TIROS A Story of Achievement" RCA, February 28, 1964, Table 5. Credit: NOAA in Space. |  | Tools of the Trade: Public Affairs tools from the past for deploying and staying connected. From 16mm film to manual typewriters to trusty 35mm cameras, the professionals in Air Force public affairs have a proud heritage of telling the Air Force story. (U. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Bus story 1" by Bonifacio Pontonio Commentary: "Traffic and transport." | "Parrots story 2" by Olivier Borgognon Commentary: "Various parrots in trees." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Charles Dickens | A boy's story is the best that is ever told. |
George Eliot | No story is the same to us after a lapse of time; or rather we who read it are no longer the same interpreters. |
Horace Mann | If an idiot were to tell you the same story every day for a year, you would end by believing it. |
James Gordon Bennett | Remember son, many a good story has been ruined by over verification. |
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe | Objects in pictures should so be arranged as by their very position to tell their own story. |
Norman Mailer | Once a newspaper touches a story the facts are lost forever, even to the protagonists. |
Ouida | A cruel story runs on wheels, and every hand oils the wheels as they run. |
Virgil | An old story, but the glory of it is forever. |
Wisdom and The Chinese | Better do a kindness near home than go far to burn incense. To save one life is better than to build a seven story pagoda. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
John Locke | 1690 | First, That there are no instances to be found in story, of a company of men independent, and equal one amongst another, that met together, and in this way began and set up a government. (Second Treatise of Government) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Emma | Austen, Jane | It was too old a story. |
Sylvie and Bruno | Carroll, Lewis | She returned to the Story. |
A Christmas Carol | Dickens, Charles | This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate |
So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish | Douglas Adams | There was a point to this story, but it has temporarily escaped the chronicler's mind |
Scarlet Letter | Hawthorne, Nathaniel | The story of the scarlet letter grew into a legend |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | The story was told, and everybody was in ecstasy at the adroitness of the officer |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | Let us have the story anyhow |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | Fella had a story. |
Gulliver's Travels | Swift, Jonathan | I was so curious to know the truth of this story, that I desired Agrippa might be called, who was admiral in that fight |
Walden | Thoreau, Henry David | I remembered the story of a conceited fellow, who, in fine clothes, was wont to lounge about the village once, giving advice to workmen |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Genes, however, are not the whole story. (references) | |
The story is different for boys who have the MECP2 mutation. (references) | ||
The result is an interactive tutorial that tells a biological story. (references) | ||
Business | The Greek cellular telephony market is a huge success story. (references) | |
Sales calls can be effective if a story or feature is offered to which particular regional media may be receptive, since they may find it difficult to find time to travel and attend functions in either London or the main U.K. Cities. (references) | ||
It is estimated that about 30 percent of new car model ranges now have deadlocks fitted as standard but EU legislation would be required to compel manufacturers to fit them. There is a similar story in the application of laminated glazing. (references) | ||
Children | Uganda | Most buildings have one story, but in larger towns with multistory buildings, there often are no elevators; even where they do exist, they rarely are reliable. (references) |
Civil Liberties | Panama | Subsequent press reports suggested that the story was erroneous. (references) |
China | The magazine ran the story despite reported complaints by propaganda officials. (references) | |
Economic History | Portugal | But this is only part of the story. (references) |
Botswana | Botswana is a true African success story. (references) | |
Korea | Large-scale power generation, nuclear and thermal, is a U.S. success story in Korea, despite strong Canadian and European competition. (references) | |
Human Rights | Bangladesh | Later, the victim's wife told reporters that the lawyer and the brother of the main defendant accused offered her approximately $18,500 (1,000,000 taka) to change her story. (references) |
China | Wang testified that he had become disturbed by the practice after taking part in the removal of skin from a still-living prisoner in 1995. The authorities stated that Wang fabricated the story in order to seek political asylum in the United States. (references) | |
Political Economy | HONDURAS | The biggest success story of all has been the growth of the apparel (assembly) industry, with significant U.S. investment, from virtually zero in 1989 to over 200 plants in 2000 generating almost $550 million in foreign exchange and employing over 125,000 workers by December 2000. Implementation of the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act in October 2000, which provides enhanced benefits to Honduras and other countries of the region, was expected to further boost investment and employment in the sector. (references) |
Trade | Oman | The Ministry of Information delays or bars the entry of magazines and newspaper editions if it takes exception to a story on Oman or deems the content morally suspect. (references) |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | SERIAL, n. A literary work, usually a story that is not true, creeping through several issues of a newspaper or magazine. Frequently appended to each installment is a "synposis of preceding chapters" for those who have not read them, but a direr need is a synposis of succeeding chapters for those who do not intend to read them. A synposis of the entire work would be still better. The late James F. Bowman was writing a serial tale for a weekly paper in collaboration with a genius whose name has not come down to us. They wrote, not jointly but alternately, Bowman supplying the installment for one week, his friend for the next, and so on, world without end, they hoped. Unfortunately they quarreled, and one Monday morning when Bowman read the paper to prepare himself for his task, he found his work cut out for him in a way to surprise and pain him. His collaborator had embarked every character of the narrative on a ship and sunk them all in the deepest part of the Atlantic. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Bill Maher | Well when this queen story broke today, I said, I have got to get back on the air because I don't know what. |
Bob Woodward | Books are like children. You love them all. And you love them all the same, but you also know their defects and shortcomings. And so I can't pick one out. Certainly working with Carl Bernstein on the Watergate story was one of the most fascinating times. |
Daniel Schorr | I did not make a comment. I gulped, I think, and said, now back to you. I couldn't believe it, that I had suddenly become a part of the story I was covering. |
Heather Mercer and Dayna Curry | Well, as I think the story has been told, that special forces from the U.S. military came in with a helicopter, and did a phenomenal job. |
Judy Sheindlin | Right. The tabloids will take a story, a lovely story, that we bought a home, and it's a home that we never dreamed we would own, and they made something evil out of it. |
Julie Andrews | Oh, because I think it's an everybody lives happily ever after story. It's got some thrills and adventures. It's got tons of fun. Beautiful scenery. Nuns. I mean, everything. |
Karl Lagerfeld | I'm not worried about nothing. It's just not the truth, and if I want to tell the story one day, I'll tell it myself. |
Rush Limbaugh | Every year on this Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we regale you with the real story of this holiday. |
Ted Koppel | Tonight, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker join us to tell their side of the story in their first live television interview since leaving the PTL Ministry. |
Walter Cronkite | That's about every morning as I'm shaving. But by the time I've finished shaving and got the newspaper in hand, I want to go after the next story. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
John F. Kennedy | 1961-1963 | This story is the same in Africa, in the Middle East, and in Asia. |
Ronald Reagan | 1981-1989 | The first is an untold American success story. |
George Bush | 1989-1993 | Tell your grandchildren the story of struggles waged at home and abroad, of sacrifices freely made for freedom's sake. |
George W. Bush | 2001-2005 | We have a place, all of us, in a long story--a story we continue, but whose end we will not see. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Story" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 99.89% of the time. "Story" is used about 13,662 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 99.89% | 13,647 | 666 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.11% | 15 | 90,616 |
| Total | 100.00% | 13,662 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "story" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Story | Last name | 8,000 | 1,494 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
1. Story, AR 2. Story, WY |
Expressions using "story": a cock and a bull story ♦ a Story About `Magic' ♦ a story full of zest ♦ adventure story ♦ as the story goes ♦ Attic story ♦ background story ♦ be good at telling a story ♦ bedtime story ♦ bible story ♦ blue story ♦ build another story ♦ cock and bull story ♦ cover story ♦ crime story ♦ dedective story ♦ detective story ♦ dirty story ♦ dog story ♦ fabricated story ♦ fairy story ♦ fantastic story ♦ filthy story ♦ fish story ♦ folk story ♦ funny story ♦ ghost story ♦ good story ♦ Ground story ♦ his story looks false ♦ horror story ♦ humorous story ♦ inside story ♦ it's the same old story ♦ laugh over a story ♦ lead story ♦ life story ♦ long short story ♦ love story ♦ magic Switch Story ♦ make a long story short ♦ make up a story ♦ mystery story ♦ nasty story ♦ news story ♦ old story ♦ pick up the story ♦ picture story ♦ pretty story ♦ rats in the upper story ♦ sad story ♦ same old story ♦ same story over and over again! ♦ scare story ♦ second story ♦ serial story ♦ shaggy dog story ♦ short story ♦ smutty story ♦ sob story ♦ stale story ♦ story book ♦ Story City ♦ Story County ♦ Story floor ♦ story like ♦ story of Mel ♦ story post ♦ story teller ♦ strange story ♦ success story ♦ tall story ♦ tell a story ♦ that's another story of shoes of breeches ♦ the lead story ♦ the moral of a story ♦ the same old story ♦ the Story of Mel ♦ the upper story ♦ three story ♦ to cut a long story short ♦ to make the long story short ♦ travel story ♦ true story ♦ upper story ♦ war story ♦ weak in the upper story. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "story": story-ballet, story-board, story-board-like, story-boards, story-book, story-books, story-building, story-continuity, story-contracted, story-cube, story-cycle, story-documentaries, story-hearing, story-hours, story-hunting, story-land, story-line, story-lines, story-listeners, story-making, Story-maskelyne, story-reading, story-showing, story-so-far, Story-teller, story-tellers, Story-telling, story-time, Story-vanessa, story-wise, Story-writer, story-writing. | |
Ending with "story": adventure-story, fairy-story, life-story, love-story, photo-story, short-story. | |
Containing "story": detective-story-like, multi-story flats, three-story three-storied three-storey three-storeyed. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
sex story | 26,280 | free xxx story | 1,409 |
erotic story | 24,695 | masturbation story | 1,363 |
free sex story | 17,420 | free erotic sex story | 1,282 |
free erotic story | 9,115 | toy story | 1,219 |
story | 5,902 | free porn story | 1,193 |
xxx story | 3,662 | scary story | 1,153 |
adult story | 3,659 | sex story post | 1,112 |
ghost story | 2,765 | gay sex story | 974 |
short story | 2,628 | slut wife story | 924 |
nifty erotic story | 2,357 | lesbian sex story | 848 |
nifty story | 2,340 | funny story | 846 |
gay story | 2,101 | alt sex story | 845 |
porn story | 2,091 | nifty erotic story archive | 840 |
lesbian story | 1,963 | adult sex story | 829 |
spanking story | 1,842 | bondage story | 829 |
free adult story | 1,586 | free adult sex story | 771 |
sexy story | 1,577 | bible story | 743 |
free story | 1,561 | bdsm story | 737 |
love story | 1,454 | enema story | 736 |
erotic sex story | 1,446 | erotic gay story | 733 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "story"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | verhaal (account, history, narrate, narrative, relate, tale, tell), verdieping (floor, storey), storie (account, narrative, tale), geskiedenis (history). (various references) | |
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