"Which do you prefer: fact or fiction?"

No one can define these words precisely. We sort of know how they are used. For instance, "Obama is president of the United States" will be recognized as a fact by anyone who can read English and is aware enough of current events; some guy locked in a room in the jungles of Borneo may not know this fact, but that doesn't mean it isn't a fact. Facts are things that can be confirmed, verified, sometimes argued about. The other category, fiction, are things that look like facts but aren't the case. "McCain and Palin are currently the president and vice-president of the United States" looks like a fact, but it's a fiction. Some people hope that this might have been true, but time has passed them by. Because they are out of step with historical events, they prefer fiction to fact if they believe it ought to be a fact or that it is in fact a fact. Occupations that are occupied by facts: the police, surgeons, nurses, teachers. Occupations occupied with fictions: Polanski, Letterman, W., Beck.