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mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">False etymology</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. 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href="https://as.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%AD%E0%A7%81%E0%A7%B1%E0%A6%BE_%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A7%81%E0%A7%8E%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%9C%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%9E%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A8" title="ভুৱা ব্যুৎপত্তিবিজ্ঞান – Assamese" lang="as" hreflang="as" data-title="ভুৱা ব্যুৎপত্তিবিজ্ঞান" data-language-autonym="অসমীয়া" data-language-local-name="Assamese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>অসমীয়া</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etimolog%C3%ADa_popular" title="Etimología popular – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Etimología popular" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-eu mw-list-item"><a href="https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herri-etimologia" title="Herri-etimologia – Basque" lang="eu" hreflang="eu" data-title="Herri-etimologia" data-language-autonym="Euskara" data-language-local-name="Basque" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Euskara</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fa mw-list-item"><a href="https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%B4%D9%87%E2%80%8C%D8%B4%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B3%DB%8C_%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%B3%D8%AA" title="ریشه‌شناسی نادرست – Persian" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" data-title="ریشه‌شناسی نادرست" data-language-autonym="فارسی" data-language-local-name="Persian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>فارسی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fausse_%C3%A9tymologie" title="Fausse étymologie – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Fausse étymologie" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paretimologia#Paretimologia_in_senso_lato" title="Paretimologia – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Paretimologia" data-language-autonym="Italiano" data-language-local-name="Italian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Italiano</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etimologia_popular" title="Etimologia popular – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="Etimologia popular" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Português</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B4%D0%BE%D1%8D%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%B8%D1%8F" title="Псевдоэтимология – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Псевдоэтимология" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sl mw-list-item"><a href="https://sl.wikipedia.org/wiki/La%C5%BEna_etimologija" title="Lažna etimologija – Slovenian" lang="sl" hreflang="sl" data-title="Lažna etimologija" data-language-autonym="Slovenščina" data-language-local-name="Slovenian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Slovenščina</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sh mw-list-item"><a href="https://sh.wikipedia.org/wiki/La%C5%BEna_etimologija" title="Lažna etimologija – Serbo-Croatian" lang="sh" hreflang="sh" data-title="Lažna etimologija" data-language-autonym="Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски" data-language-local-name="Serbo-Croatian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh-yue mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh-yue.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%81%87%E8%A9%9E%E6%BA%90" title="假詞源 – Cantonese" lang="yue" 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from <a href="/w/index.php?title=False_etymologies&redirect=no" class="mw-redirect" title="False etymologies">False etymologies</a>)</span></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Popular, but false belief about word origins</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">This article is about false theories of word origins. For word change through popular usage, see <a href="/wiki/Folk_etymology" title="Folk etymology">folk etymology</a>.</div> <p>A <b>false etymology</b> (<b>fake etymology</b> or <b>pseudo-etymology</b>) is a false theory about the origin or derivation of a specific word or phrase. When a false etymology becomes a popular belief in a cultural/linguistic community, it is a <b>folk etymology</b> (or <b>popular etymology</b>).<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Nevertheless, <a href="/wiki/Folk_etymology" title="Folk etymology">folk/popular etymology</a> may also refer to the process by which a word or phrase is changed because of a popular false etymology. To disambiguate the usage of the term "folk/popular etymology", <a href="/wiki/Ghil%27ad_Zuckermann" title="Ghil'ad Zuckermann">Ghil'ad Zuckermann</a> proposes a clear-cut distinction between the <b>derivational-only popular etymology</b> (<b>DOPE</b>) and the <a href="/wiki/Generative_popular_etymology" class="mw-redirect" title="Generative popular etymology">generative popular etymology</a> (GPE): the DOPE refers to a popular false etymology involving no <a href="/wiki/Neologization" class="mw-redirect" title="Neologization">neologization</a>, and the GPE refers to neologization generated by a popular false etymology.<sup id="cite_ref-Zuckerman20032_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Zuckerman20032-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Such <a href="/wiki/Etymology" title="Etymology">etymologies</a> often have the feel of <a href="/wiki/Urban_legend" title="Urban legend">urban legends</a> 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 forced to write <i>sine nobilitate</i> by their name, soon abbreviated to <i>s.nob.</i>, hence the word <i><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/snob" class="extiw" title="wikt:snob">snob</a></i>).<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Source_and_influence">Source and influence</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=False_etymology&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Source and influence"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>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 <a href="/wiki/Medieval_etymology" title="Medieval etymology">medieval etymology</a>, for example, were plausible given the insights available at the time, but have often been rejected by modern linguists. The etymologies of <a href="/wiki/Humanism" title="Humanism">humanist</a> scholars in the early modern period began to produce more reliable results, but many of their hypotheses have also been superseded. </p><p>Other false etymologies are the result of specious and untrustworthy claims made by individuals, such as the unfounded claims made by <a href="/wiki/Daniel_Cassidy" title="Daniel Cassidy">Daniel Cassidy</a> that hundreds of common English words such as <i><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/baloney" class="extiw" title="wikt:baloney">baloney</a></i>, <i><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grumble" class="extiw" title="wikt:grumble">grumble</a></i>, and <i><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bunkum" class="extiw" title="wikt:bunkum">bunkum</a></i> derive from the <a href="/wiki/Irish_language" title="Irish language">Irish language</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>In the United States, some of these scandalous legends have had to do with <a href="/wiki/Racism" title="Racism">racism</a> and <a href="/wiki/Slavery" title="Slavery">slavery</a>; common words such as <i>picnic</i>,<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <i>buck</i>,<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and <i>crowbar</i><sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> have been alleged to stem from derogatory terms or racist practices. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=False_etymology&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1184024115">.mw-parser-output .div-col{margin-top:0.3em;column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .div-col-small{font-size:90%}.mw-parser-output .div-col-rules{column-rule:1px solid #aaa}.mw-parser-output .div-col dl,.mw-parser-output .div-col ol,.mw-parser-output .div-col ul{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .div-col li,.mw-parser-output .div-col dd{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}</style><div class="div-col" style="column-width: 30em;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_common_false_etymologies_of_English_words" title="List of common false etymologies of English words">List of common false etymologies of English words</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Back-formation" title="Back-formation">Back-formation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Backronym" title="Backronym">Backronym</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bongo-Bongo_(linguistics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Bongo-Bongo (linguistics)">Bongo-Bongo (linguistics)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chinese_word_for_%22crisis%22" class="mw-redirect" title="Chinese word for "crisis"">Chinese word for "crisis"</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eggcorn" title="Eggcorn">Eggcorn</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Etymological_fallacy" title="Etymological fallacy">Etymological fallacy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/False_cognate" title="False cognate">False cognate</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/False_friend" title="False friend">False friend</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Just-so_story" title="Just-so story">Just-so story</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Linguistic_interference" class="mw-redirect" title="Linguistic interference">Linguistic interference</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_proposed_etymologies_of_OK" title="List of proposed etymologies of OK">List of proposed etymologies of OK</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Phonestheme" title="Phonestheme">Phonestheme</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Phono-semantic_matching" title="Phono-semantic matching">Phono-semantic matching</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pseudoscientific_language_comparison" title="Pseudoscientific language comparison">Pseudoscientific language comparison</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Semantic_change" title="Semantic change">Semantic change</a></li></ul> </div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=False_etymology&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFRundbladKronenfeld2003" class="citation journal cs1">Rundblad, Gabriella; Kronenfeld, David B. 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Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2015-07-12</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Snopes.com&rft.atitle=Etymology+of+Crowbar&rft.date=2008-12-14&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.snopes.com%2Flanguage%2Foffense%2Fcrowbar.asp&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AFalse+etymology" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=False_etymology&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>Richard Lederer, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0203/lederer022003.asp"><i>Spook Etymology on the Internet</i></a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080807180001/http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/fallacy.html">Popular Fallacies – the Nonsense Nine</a></li></ul>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=False_etymology&oldid=1251866773">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=False_etymology&oldid=1251866773</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Help:Category" title="Help:Category">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Etymology" title="Category:Etymology">Etymology</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Error" title="Category:Error">Error</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Folklore" title="Category:Folklore">Folklore</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Urban_legends" title="Category:Urban legends">Urban legends</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Misconceptions" title="Category:Misconceptions">Misconceptions</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Pseudolinguistics" title="Category:Pseudolinguistics">Pseudolinguistics</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Semantic_relations" title="Category:Semantic relations">Semantic relations</a></li></ul></div><div id="mw-hidden-catlinks" class="mw-hidden-catlinks mw-hidden-cats-hidden">Hidden categories: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_short_description" title="Category:Articles with short description">Articles with short description</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Short_description_is_different_from_Wikidata" title="Category:Short description is different from Wikidata">Short description is different from Wikidata</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </main> </div> <div class="mw-footer-container"> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" > <ul id="footer-info"> <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 18 October 2024, at 14:59<span class="anonymous-show"> (UTC)</span>.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Text is available under the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_4.0_International_License" title="Wikipedia:Text of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License</a>; additional terms may apply. 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