Friend of a friend

Friend of a friend (FOAF) is a phrase used to refer to someone that one does not know well — literally, a friend of a friend.

In some social sciences, the phrase is used as a half-joking shorthand for the fact that much of the information on which people act comes from distant sources (as in "It happened to a friend of a friend of mine") and cannot be confirmed. It is probably best known from urban legend studies. The term was popularized by Jan Harold Brunvand, the best-known writer of that field. It was apparently first published by Rodney Dale in his 1978 book "The Tumour in the Whale" - WH Allen ISBN 0-426-18710-5, in which he discussed the "FOAFtale".

The rise of social network services has led to increased use of this term.

See also

* "Dúirt bean liom go ndúirt bean léi" [http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Irish_proverbs (Irish proverb)] — a similar Irish language term literally meaning "a woman told me that a woman told her that…"


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  • A friend in court — Friend Friend (fr[e^]nd), n. [OR. frend, freond, AS. fre[ o]nd, prop. p. pr. of fre[ o]n, fre[ o]gan, to love; akin to D. vriend friend, OS. friund friend, friohan to love, OHG. friunt friend, G. freund, Icel. fr[ae]ndi kinsman, Sw. fr[ a]nde.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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