An urban myth about etymology. The most common kind is probably the fanciful derivation of a word from initials—Port Over Starboard Home is the most famous, with variations on Fornication and/or Carnal Knowledge a popular second. It also applies to the fanciful story that a king knighted sirloin, the imagined connexion between Beltane and a Near Eastern god Baal, and probably to the attempt to derive Elephant and Castle from a supposed Infanta of Castile. The term was coined by the linguist Larry Horn.
To be distinguished from folk etymology, or is perhaps a kind of folk etymology. Most folk etymologies turn incomprehensible elements into familiar words, e.g. sparrowgrass from asparagus, bridegroom from bridegome, possibly gooseberry from some other (now uncertain) first element.
An urban myth about etymology. The most common kind is probably the fanciful derivation of a word from initials—Port Over Starboard Home is the most famous, with variations on Fornication and/or Carnal Knowledge a popular second. It also applies to the fanciful story that a king knighted sirloin, the imagined connexion between Beltane and a Near Eastern god Baal, and probably to the attempt to derive Elephant and Castle from a supposed Infanta of Castile. The term was coined by the linguist Larry Horn.
To be distinguished from folk etymology, or is perhaps a kind of folk etymology. Most folk etymologies turn incomprehensible elements into familiar words, e.g. sparrowgrass from asparagus, bridegroom from bridegome, possibly gooseberry from some other (now uncertain) first element.