Background vs Backstory - What's the difference?
background | backstory |
One's social heritage; what one did in the past/previously.
A part of the picture that depicts scenery to the rear or behind the main subject; context.
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author=
, title= Information relevant to the current situation about past events; history.
A less important feature of scenery (as opposed to foreground).
(computing) The image or color, over which a computer's desktop items are shown (e.g. icons or application windows).
(computing) Activity on a computer that is not normally visible to the user.
The previous life and experiences of a character in a dramatic work.
* {{quote-news, year=2004, date=January 16, author=Kelly Kleiman, title=Her Side of the Story, work=Chicago Reader
, passage=These backstories cast the characters' behavior in a new light: of course Gertrude would promptly marry the man who saved her from abuse; of course Ophelia would be desperate and indiscreet in seeking Hamlet's love.}}
* A fictitious account of a person's history designed to conceal their actual history and motives; a cover story.
A prequel.
As nouns the difference between background and backstory
is that background is one's social heritage; what one did in the past/previously while backstory is the previous life and experiences of a character in a dramatic work.As a verb background
is to put in a position that is not prominent.background
English
Noun
(en noun)William E. Conner
An Acoustic Arms Race, volume=101, issue=3, page=206-7, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close
Derived terms
* on background * background fodderbackstory
English
Alternative forms
* back story * back-storyNoun
(wikipedia backstory) (backstories)citation