folk etymology
1
8.7
- noun
- /foʊk ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/
- Specialized
:
etimología popular
- A common example of folk etymology is the belief that the word 'chandelier' comes from the French word 'chanvre,' meaning hemp.
Examples
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We'll know it's firmly planted when the folk etymology of it is asserted to be something about smoking a certain Lebanese export that causes people to talk but not listen, spout but not think.
Blog text (18) -
And indeed, it is the rarebit and not the rabbit that represents folk etymology, or more precisely, etymythology.
Academic text (2006) -
Many people think the phrase 'honeymoon' comes from a literal honey and moon, but that's actually a case of folk etymology.
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The popular misconception that 'blackmail' refers to a mail service is a classic instance of folk etymology.
Synonyms
395
3.8
A false idea that many people believe
Surface Forms
Morphology
A learner who knows 'folk' (people, popular) and 'etymology' (study of word origins) can reasonably infer that 'folk etymology' refers to a popular or people-based account of a word's origin. However, the technical nuance that these accounts are typically incorrect and may cause changes to words is not fully predictable from the constituents, so full meaning requires prior exposure or explanation.
Etymology
Folk etymology comes from ordinary people (folk) telling simple stories about a word's history (etymology) by turning strange words into more familiar ones. One popular example is changing 'asparagus' to 'sparrow grass', so it means a common but often 'incorrect' story of where a word came from.