Ever heard this before?

Have you ever heard or used the word apocryphal before?

When I first stumbled upon the word in a book I was reading, I thought the word had a dark, brooding feel to it. Perhaps it's because you can almost spell "crypt" in the word.

In reality, it means something -- whether a story, account, or statement -- that is of doubtful authenticity, although widely circulated as being true.

Synonyms for apocryphal include fictitious, untrue, spurious, unsubstantiated, bogus, and false.

I'm sure we can all point to one specific thing in school or the workplace that can often be described as apocryphal: rumors and gossip.

Many of the statements made by candidates during the presidential election last year could also be classified as such, which is why fact checking has become all the rage in politics.

All of us have friends, relatives or coworkers who relate stories that at times seem, well, exaggerated. And, yet, even though their authenticity may seem questionable, the stories spread like wildfire -- propagated from one person to the next.

Had you heard of the word apocryphal before reading this post? Do you foresee ever using it?

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