Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun unnecessary or distracting visual elements included in charts and graphs

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

chart +‎ junk

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Examples

  • This is from a blog called chartjunk, which I am infinitely more interested in now that I've found it.

    xian's running monolog 2008

  • Marshall described "chartjunk" as additional graphics not related to the data in a quest to make the chart more aesthetically pleasing.

    Emerson Process Experts 2008

  • "chartjunk" that pretties up information without giving an understanding of why it's useful.

    GigaOM Liz Gannes 2010

  • They coach us towards bullet points, chartjunk, "meeting by template" and a thousand other "deaths by PowerPoint."

    Is PowerPoint good or evil? dave gray 2005

  • But other times, the reader can be overwhelmed by too much irrelevant information or, in one of Mr. Tufte's favorite terms, "chartjunk."

    NYT > Home Page By NOAM COHEN 2010

  • Compare this with the depiction at chartjunk, which presents the same data, but this time with a scale that […]

    Freakonomics 2008

  • Compare this with the depiction at chartjunk, which presents the same data, but this time with a scale that […]

    Freakonomics 2008

  • Compare this with the depiction at chartjunk, which presents the same data, but this time with a scale that […]

    Freakonomics 2008

  • Compare this with the depiction at chartjunk, which presents the same data, but this time with a scale that […]

    Freakonomics 2008

  • Compare this with the depiction at chartjunk, which presents the same data, but this time with a scale that […]

    Freakonomics 2008

Comments

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  • Wikipedia sez: "a term for unnecessary or confusing visual elements in charts and graphs."

    May 5, 2007