anecdote=逸事？

先看几个例子：

knowledge gained through tradition or anecdote. 由传统或流言轶事获得的知识。

He preceded his lecture with a humorous anecdote. 他以一个幽默的轶事开始他的演说。

I related the anecdote, whereupon he laughed heartily. 我叙述那件轶事，他听了开怀大笑。

Now the snag in this sort of anecdote is of course that one cannot distinguish cause and effect.
当然，这类奇闻中的疑难处当然在于人们无法区别因与果。

Allowing people to savor his personality (which is the real purpose of a whistle-stop) while thawing them out with an anecdote.
用一则轶事把人们的情绪缓和下来，同时让人们贪图他的风度（这就是短暂露面的真正目的）。


据Cambridge Advanced English Dictionary, anecdote一词的定义如下：
a short often amusing story, especially about something someone has done:
     He told one or two amusing anecdotes about his years as a policeman.
从定义可以看出，anecdote是“短且有趣的事情”，而趣闻指不见正式记载的世人不甚知道的事情。因此，两者还是有不少区别的。