False etymology

A false etymology (fake etymology or pseudo-etymology) 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 folk etymology (or popular etymology).^[1] Nevertheless, folk/popular etymology 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", Ghil'ad Zuckermann proposes a clear-cut distinction between the derivational-only popular etymology (DOPE) and the generative popular etymology (GPE): the DOPE refers to a popular false etymology involving no neologization, and the GPE refers to neologization generated by a popular false etymology.^[2]

Such etymologies often have the feel of urban legends 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 sine nobilitate by their name, soon abbreviated to s.nob., hence the word snob).^[3]^[4] Many recent examples are "backronyms" (acronyms made up to explain a term), such as posh for "port outward, starboard homeward".

^ Rundblad, Gabriella; Kronenfeld, David B. (2003-01-01). "The inevitability of folk etymology: a case of collective reality and invisible hands". Journal of Pragmatics. 35 (1): 119–138. doi:10.1016/S0378-2166(02)00059-0. ISSN 0378-2166.
^ Zuckermann, Ghil'ad (2003). Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1403917232.
^ "nouns – Etymology of "snob"". English Language & Usage Stack Exchange. Retrieved 2013-08-26.
^ "What is the origin of the word 'snob'?". Oxford Dictionaries Online. 2013-08-21. Archived from the original on December 30, 2011. Retrieved 2013-08-26.

[1] Rundblad, Gabriella; Kronenfeld, David B. (2003-01-01). "The inevitability of folk etymology: a case of collective reality and invisible hands". Journal of Pragmatics. 35 (1): 119–138. doi:10.1016/S0378-2166(02)00059-0. ISSN 0378-2166.

[Zuckerman20032-2] Zuckermann, Ghil'ad (2003). Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1403917232.

[3] "nouns – Etymology of "snob"". English Language & Usage Stack Exchange. Retrieved 2013-08-26.

[4] "What is the origin of the word 'snob'?". Oxford Dictionaries Online. 2013-08-21. Archived from the original on December 30, 2011. Retrieved 2013-08-26.

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