The term \u201cconspiracy theory\u201d calls to mind a variety of dubious claims and controversies, like rumors about Area 51, claims that the Earth is flat, and the movement known as QAnon.<\/p>\n
At first blush, these phenomena would seem to have little in common with bogus word origins. But there are a variety of false etymologies that spread virally and refuse to go away, in much the same way that stories about chemtrails, black helicopters, and UFOs refuse to die.<\/p>\n
What is a false etymology? Simply put, it\u2019s an invented word history that seems to explain a \u201creal\u201d or hidden meaning that most people are unaware of.<\/p>\n
Some examples: \u201crule of thumb\u201d has nothing to do with the thickness of a switch that husbands could employ to strike their wives. \u201cMarmalade\u201d doesn\u2019t derive from the utterance \u201cMarie est malade\u201d (Mary is ill). \u201cNews\u201d isn\u2019t an acronym for \u201cnorth, east, west, and south.\u201d<\/p>\n
And despite Van Halen\u2019s 1991 studio album title, the phrase \u201cfor unlawful carnal knowledge\u201d is not the origin of the language\u2019s most notorious expletive. Ditto for \u201ctip\u201d\u2014it\u2019s not an acronym for \u201cto insure promptness.\u201d And \u201cposh\u201d doesn\u2019t derive from \u201cport out, starboard home\u201d (the preferred\u2014and more expensive\u2014cabin option on British ships bound for India).<\/p>\n
Many of these stories have been floating around for decades or even longer. But why do they persist? Their longevity and staying power may spring from the same psychological impulse that gives rise to urban legends. Claiming that \u201cbutterfly\u201d used to be \u201cflutterby\u201d is not far removed from stories about finding a bloody hook on one\u2019s car door handle.<\/p>\n
In this way, false etymologies function like memes<\/a>, and they can be spread in the same way. Even in my pre-internet youth, I remember high school classmates sharing these word origins via word of mouth, with the certainty that is a hallmark of the teenage mind.<\/p>\n But it may be the element of secrecy that makes these stories so seductive. The sharing of such “facts”\u2014in this case, I know something that most people don\u2019t, and now you do too\u2014is almost like an initiation ritual to a hidden world of arcane knowledge.<\/p>\n More Than a Passing Resemblance<\/p>\n Despite their similarity to urban legends and memes<\/a>, false etymologies may have even more in common with conspiracy theories. Specifically, they share at least four attributes:<\/p>\n \u201cOfficial\u201d explanations are not to be trusted. False etymologies should be trivially easy to disprove, since debunking them only requires consulting a physical dictionary. Vast amounts of effort have been expended by lexicographers in researching word origins: their first appearance in print, cognates in other languages, and the tracing of their roots\u2014over centuries or even millennia\u2014to origins in Germanic, Latin, Greek, or Indo-European. This can all be found in unabridged dictionary, spelled out in often mind-numbing detail. But because this scholarship is the product of elites, there are those who instinctively mistrust<\/a> it.<\/p>\n Emotional appeal. People who subscribe to the false \u201crule of thumb\u201d etymology may be attracted to it as an example of a sexist and patriarchal mindset that was dominant until relatively recently. It can be titillating to think that the language contains fossilized clues about discarded beliefs and practices. And the English language certainly does contain relics of days gone by\u2014just not in this case.<\/p>\n Narrative coherency. The word \u201cbutterfly\u201d doesn\u2019t seem to make any sense: most members of the order Lepidoptera aren\u2019t yellow, and they certainly aren\u2019t flies (in fact, they\u2019re arthropods, like spiders and cockroaches). But \u201cflutterby\u201d perfectly describes their erratic, unpredictable movement through the air. It should be the origin of butterfly!<\/p>\n There are things that the \u201cexperts\u201d can\u2019t explain. \u201cOkay\u201d is one of the most used expressions on the planet, having been borrowed from English by speakers of many other languages. But despite this, etymologists can\u2019t agree on its origin story. It may be derived from the intentional misspelling \u201coll korrect,\u201d but it may also have its origins in Choctaw, or Greek, or Scottish. The historical record simply doesn\u2019t provide enough evidence for us to know for sure.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s another example: We don\u2019t really know where the word \u201cdog\u201d came from! It can be traced back to Old English, but then the trail goes cold. There isn\u2019t a similar term in any other tongue related to English. And if the experts can\u2019t conclusively pin down the origins of words like \u201cokay\u201d or \u201cdog,\u201d then what else don\u2019t they know? And what might they be hiding?<\/p>\n Sowing Confusion Online<\/p>\n