HISTORY vs STORY

Despite their similarity, the terms "history" and "story" have distinct meanings in English. The term "history" describes all the events that happened in the past, while a story is a description of events that the writer or speaker has invented in order to entertain people. (Source: Oxford Phonetics Dictionary)

THE HISTORY BEHIND THE STORY. (A história por trás da estória.)

ESTÓRIA – Story

The term “estória” in Portuguese is a neologism proposed by João Ribeiro, a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters, in 1919. Strongly influenced by the English term “story”, "estória" is still accepted for naming a fictional or popular story, a narrative, or a short story.

HISTÓRIA – History

In Brazil, in 1943, the Brazilian Academy of Letters eliminated the requirement to distinguish between the two terms. “Estória” did not become incorrect, but it became optional when naming imaginary narratives. The recommendation since then is to use “história” for both cases, whether reality or fiction.

(Source: Google Search / Revista Veja-Jan 2011)

(Adapted by José Antônio Gottardi)