Knowledge (XXG)

False etymology

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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
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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
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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",
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Other false etymologies are the result of specious and untrustworthy claims made by individuals, such as the unfounded claims made by
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scholars in the early modern period began to produce more reliable results, but many of their hypotheses have also been superseded.
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This article is about false theories of word origins. For word change through popular usage, see
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later modified or rejected as linguistic scholarship advances. The results of
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In the United States, some of these scandalous legends have had to do with
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have been alleged to stem from derogatory terms or racist practices.
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Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew
383:. Oxford Dictionaries Online. 2013-08-21. Archived from 286:
Rundblad, Gabriella; Kronenfeld, David B. (2003-01-01).
429:"Language Log: The bunkum of 'The Bunkum of Bunkum'?" 187:List of common false etymologies of English words 131:that hundreds of common English words such as 362:. English Language & Usage Stack Exchange 65:proposes a clear-cut distinction between the 8: 476:"Etymology on the phrase 'passing the buck'" 27:Popular, but false belief about word origins 407:"Language Log: Gullibility in high places" 381:"What is the origin of the word 'snob'?" 278: 536:Popular Fallacies – the Nonsense Nine 7: 449:Mikkelson, David (21 January 2017). 257:Pseudoscientific language comparison 97:by their name, soon abbreviated to 67:derivational-only popular etymology 242:List of proposed etymologies of OK 25: 530:Spook Etymology on the Internet 1: 427:Liberman, Mark (2006-07-06). 405:Zwicky, Arnold (2007-11-09). 360:"nouns – Etymology of "snob"" 304:10.1016/S0378-2166(02)00059-0 75:generative popular etymology 597: 29: 207:Chinese word for "crisis" 202:Bongo-Bongo (linguistics) 252:Phono-semantic matching 237:Linguistic interference 164:; common words such as 88:often have the feel of 501:"Etymology of Crowbar" 59:folk/popular etymology 292:Journal of Pragmatics 431:. Itre.cis.upenn.edu 409:. Itre.cis.upenn.edu 387:on December 30, 2011 217:Etymological fallacy 111:Source and influence 326:Zuckermann, Ghil'ad 581:Semantic relations 507:. 14 December 2008 482:. 22 December 2013 336:Palgrave Macmillan 118:medieval etymology 63:Ghil'ad Zuckermann 576:Pseudolinguistics 527:Richard Lederer, 101:, hence the word 57:). Nevertheless, 55:popular etymology 18:Popular etymology 16:(Redirected from 588: 516: 515: 513: 512: 497: 491: 490: 488: 487: 472: 466: 465: 463: 461: 446: 440: 439: 437: 436: 424: 418: 417: 415: 414: 402: 396: 395: 393: 392: 377: 371: 370: 368: 367: 356: 350: 349: 322: 316: 315: 283: 149:derive from the 47:pseudo-etymology 21: 596: 595: 591: 590: 589: 587: 586: 585: 541: 540: 524: 519: 510: 508: 499: 498: 494: 485: 483: 474: 473: 469: 459: 457: 448: 447: 443: 434: 432: 426: 425: 421: 412: 410: 404: 403: 399: 390: 388: 379: 378: 374: 365: 363: 358: 357: 353: 346: 324: 323: 319: 285: 284: 280: 276: 271: 266: 262:Semantic change 182: 113: 95:sine nobilitate 39:false etymology 35: 28: 23: 22: 15: 12: 11: 5: 594: 592: 584: 583: 578: 573: 571:Misconceptions 568: 563: 558: 553: 543: 542: 539: 538: 533: 523: 522:External links 520: 518: 517: 492: 467: 451:"Picnic Pique" 441: 419: 397: 372: 351: 345:978-1403917232 344: 317: 298:(1): 119–138. 277: 275: 272: 270: 267: 265: 264: 259: 254: 249: 244: 239: 234: 229: 224: 219: 214: 209: 204: 199: 194: 192:Back-formation 189: 183: 181: 178: 151:Irish language 129:Daniel Cassidy 112: 109: 51:folk etymology 43:fake etymology 32:folk etymology 26: 24: 14: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 593: 582: 579: 577: 574: 572: 569: 567: 566:Urban legends 564: 562: 559: 557: 554: 552: 549: 548: 546: 537: 534: 532: 531: 526: 525: 521: 506: 502: 496: 493: 481: 477: 471: 468: 456: 452: 445: 442: 430: 423: 420: 408: 401: 398: 386: 382: 376: 373: 361: 355: 352: 347: 341: 337: 333: 332: 327: 321: 318: 313: 309: 305: 301: 297: 293: 289: 282: 279: 273: 268: 263: 260: 258: 255: 253: 250: 248: 245: 243: 240: 238: 235: 233: 232:Just-so story 230: 228: 225: 223: 222:False cognate 220: 218: 215: 213: 210: 208: 205: 203: 200: 198: 195: 193: 190: 188: 185: 184: 179: 177: 175: 171: 167: 163: 159: 154: 152: 148: 147: 142: 141: 136: 135: 130: 125: 123: 119: 110: 108: 106: 105: 100: 96: 91: 90:urban legends 87: 82: 80: 79:neologization 76: 72: 68: 64: 60: 56: 52: 48: 44: 40: 33: 19: 529: 509:. Retrieved 504: 495: 484:. Retrieved 479: 470: 458:. Retrieved 454: 444: 433:. Retrieved 422: 411:. Retrieved 400: 389:. Retrieved 385:the original 375: 364:. Retrieved 354: 330: 320: 295: 291: 281: 227:False friend 173: 169: 165: 155: 144: 138: 132: 126: 114: 102: 98: 94: 83: 70: 66: 54: 50: 46: 42: 38: 36: 247:Phonestheme 86:etymologies 545:Categories 511:2015-07-12 505:Snopes.com 486:2015-07-12 480:Snopes.com 455:Snopes.com 435:2015-07-12 413:2015-07-12 391:2013-08-26 366:2013-08-26 274:References 73:) and the 551:Etymology 312:0378-2166 197:Backronym 561:Folklore 328:(2003). 180:See also 122:humanist 460:5 March 212:Eggcorn 174:crowbar 162:slavery 140:grumble 134:baloney 342:  310:  172:, and 166:picnic 158:racism 146:bunkum 143:, and 99:s.nob. 556:Error 269:Notes 84:Such 462:2018 340:ISBN 308:ISSN 170:buck 160:and 104:snob 71:DOPE 53:(or 300:doi 107:). 45:or 547:: 503:. 478:. 453:. 338:. 334:. 306:. 296:35 294:. 290:. 168:, 153:. 137:, 37:A 514:. 489:. 464:. 438:. 416:. 394:. 369:. 348:. 314:. 302:: 69:( 41:( 34:. 20:)

Index

Popular etymology
folk etymology
folk/popular etymology
Ghil'ad Zuckermann
generative popular etymology
neologization
etymologies
urban legends
snob
medieval etymology
humanist
Daniel Cassidy
baloney
grumble
bunkum
Irish language
racism
slavery
List of common false etymologies of English words
Back-formation
Backronym
Bongo-Bongo (linguistics)
Chinese word for "crisis"
Eggcorn
Etymological fallacy
False cognate
False friend
Just-so story
Linguistic interference
List of proposed etymologies of OK

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