the.com/oddity
the glitch that became the feature, the flaw the algorithm couldn't predict.
means A person, thing, or quirk that stands out as strange, unusual, or hard to categorize.
from From 'odd' plus the noun-forming suffix '-ity.' 'Odd' itself came into English from Old Norse 'oddi,' which meant a point or triangle of land — and, by extension, the odd one left over when things are paired off, the unmatched third. So an oddity is, at its root, the leftover that didn't fit the pattern.
- word origin
- From Latin odd, meaning the leftover unpaired one
- David Bowie
- Space Oddity dropped days before Apollo 11 launched
- statistics
- Outliers often reveal more truth than the average
- evolution
- Random mutations, life's oddities, drive every adaptation
- collectors
- Cabinets of curiosities preceded all modern museums
henry jiy ossian — scottish poet born 1736 whose authenticity was debated for decades, literary oddity that divided scholars
charles proteus steinmetz — electrical engineer born 1865, 4 feet tall with curvature of spine, genius who made revolutionary discoveries despite severe disability