back story

back story (plural back stories)

1. Alternative form of backstory
   • 2005 July 15, A[nthony] O[liver] Scott, “Looking for the candy, finding a back story [review of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)]”, in The New York Times‎, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-10-08:

     Inexplicably, and at great risk to the integrity of the movie, the filmmakers have burdened him with a psychological back story pulled out of a folder in some studio filing cabinet. Why does [Willy] Wonka spend his days confecting sweets?

   • 2013 March 1, Kaz [i.e., Kazimieras Gediminas Prapuolenis], Kim Roberson, Aliki Theofilopoulos Grafft, John Mathot, “Sidetracked”, in Phineas and Ferb, season 4, episode 7, spoken by Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz (Dan Povenmire):

     Agent Lyla: Enough back story! / Dr. Doofenshmirtz: Actually, that's not, uh … that's not really a back story, it's just expositional flashback. It doesn't, uh, have any childhood trauma, it's doesn't really inform who he is, it's not … it's just flashback. There's a difference. It's subtle, but there's a difference.