A false etymology (fake etymology, popular etymology, etymythology, pseudo-etymology, or par(a)etymology) is a popular but false belief about the origin or derivation of a specific word. It is sometimes called a

folk etymology Folk etymology (also known as popular etymology, analogical reformation, reanalysis, morphological reanalysis or etymological reinterpretation) is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more famili ...

, but this is also a technical term in linguistics. Such etymologies often have the feel of

urban legend An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

s and can be more colorful and fanciful than the typical etymologies found in dictionaries, often involving stories of unusual practices in particular subcultures (e.g. Oxford students from non-noble families being supposedly a forced to write ''sine nobilitate'' by their name, soon abbreviated to ''s.nob.'', hence the word ''

snob ''Snob'' is a pejorative term for a person who believes there is a correlation between social status (including physical appearance) and human worth.De Botton, A. (2004), ''Status Anxiety''. London: Hamish Hamilton ''Snob'' also refers to a per ...

''). Many recent examples are "

backronyms A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...

" (

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

s made up to explain a term), such as ''posh'' for "port outward, starboard homeward".

Source and influence

Erroneous etymologies can exist for many reasons. Some are reasonable interpretations of the evidence that happen to be false. For a given word there may often have been many serious attempts by scholars to propose etymologies based on the best information available at the time, and these can be later modified or rejected as linguistic scholarship advances. The results of

medieval etymology Medieval etymology is the study of the history of words as conducted by scholars in the European Middle Ages. Etymology is the study of the origins of words. Before the beginnings of large-scale modern lexicography in the 16th century and the deve ...

, for example, were plausible given the insights available at the time, but have often been rejected by modern linguists. The etymologies of

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

scholars in the early modern period began to produce more reliable results, but many of their hypotheses have also been superseded. Other false etymologies are the result of specious and untrustworthy claims made by individuals, such as the unfounded claims made by

Daniel Cassidy Daniel Cassidy (1943 – October 11, 2008) was an American writer, filmmaker, musician, and academic. He is known for his 2007 book ''How the Irish Invented Slang'' in which he suggests that many American slang words are of Irish origin. His theo ...

that hundreds of common English words such as ''

baloney Bologna sausage, informally baloney ( ), is a sausage derived from the Italian mortadella, a similar-looking, finely ground pork sausage, originally from the city of Bologna (). Typical seasonings for bologna include black pepper, nutmeg, a ...

'', '' grumble'', and ''

bunkum Buncombe County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is classified within Western North Carolina. The 2020 census reported the population was 269,452. Its county seat is Asheville. Buncombe County is part of the Asheville ...

'' derive from the

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

. Some etymologies are part of

s, and seem to respond to a general taste for the surprising, counter-intuitive and even scandalous. One common example has to do with the phrase ''

rule of thumb In English, the phrase ''rule of thumb'' refers to an approximate method for doing something, based on practical experience rather than theory. This usage of the phrase can be traced back to the 17th century and has been associated with various t ...

'', meaning "a rough guideline". An urban legend has it that the phrase refers to an old English law under which a man could legally beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. In the United States, some of these scandalous legends have had to do with

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

and

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

; common words such as ''picnic'', ''buck'', and ''crowbar'' have been alleged to stem from derogatory terms or racist practices. The "discovery" of these alleged etymologies is often believed by those who circulate them to draw attention to racist attitudes embedded in ordinary discourse.

Tariq Nasheed Tariq Nasheed, also known as Tariq Elite, King Flex, and K-Flex, is an American film producer, and Internet personality. He is best known for his '' Hidden Colors'' film series, as well as his commentary on social media. Career Nasheed began his ...

explains how the word ''buck'' is racist in his 2021 film

Buck Breaking Tariq Nasheed, also known as Tariq Elite, King Flex, and K-Flex, is an American film producer, and Internet personality. He is best known for his ''Hidden Colors'' film series, as well as his commentary on social media. Career Nasheed began his ...

. On one occasion, the use of the word ''

niggardly In the United States, there have been several controversies involving the misunderstanding of the word ''niggardly'', an adjective meaning "stingy" or "miserly", because of its phonetic similarity to ''nigger'', an ethnic slur used against bla ...

'' led to the resignation of a US public official because it sounded similar to the unrelated word ''

nigger In the English language, the word ''nigger'' is an ethnic slur used against black people, especially African Americans. Starting in the late 1990s, references to ''nigger'' have been progressively replaced by the euphemism , notably in cases ...

''.

Derivational-Only Popular Etymology (DOPE) versus Generative Popular Etymology (GPE)

Ghil'ad Zuckermann Ghil'ad Zuckermann ( he, גלעד צוקרמן, ; ) is an Israeli-born language revivalist and linguist who works in contact linguistics, lexicology and the study of language, culture and identity. Zuckermann is Professor of Linguistics and Ch ...

proposes a clear-cut distinction between Derivational-Only Popular Etymology (DOPE) and Generative Popular Etymology (GPE): "DOPE consists of etymological reanalysis of a pre-existent lexical item ..The DOPE producer is applying his/her Apollonian Tendency, the wish to describe and create order, especially with unfamiliar information or new experience .. the craving for meaningfulness." DOPE is "merely passive", "mistaken derivation, where there is a rationalization ''ex post-facto''." GPE, on the other hand, involves the introduction of a new sense (meaning) or a new lexical item – see, for example,

phono-semantic matching Phono-semantic matching (PSM) is the incorporation of a word into one language from another, often creating a neologism, where the word's non-native quality is hidden by replacing it with Phonetics, phonetically and semantically similar words o ...

Notes

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

* Richard Lederer
''Spook Etymology on the Internet''

Etymology Error Folklore Urban legends Misconceptions Pseudolinguistics Semantic relations it:Paretimologia#Paretimologia in senso lato pt:Etimologia popular

Source and influence

Derivational-Only Popular Etymology (DOPE) versus Generative Popular Etymology (GPE)

See also

Notes

References

External links