Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends

by David Wilton, Ivan Brunetti (Illustrator)

Do you "know" that posh comes from an acronym meaning "port out, starboard home"? That "the whole nine yards" comes from (pick one) the length of a WWII gunner's belt; the amount of fabric needed to make a kilt; a sarcastic football expression? That Chicago is called "The Windy City" because of the bloviating habits of its politicians, and not the breeze off the lake?
If so, you need this book. David Wilton debunks the most persistently wrong word histories, and gives, to the best of our actual knowledge, the real stories behind these perennially mis-etymologized words.
In addition, he explains why these wrong stories are created, disseminated, and persist, even after being corrected time and time again. What makes us cling to these stories, when the truth behind these words and phrases is available, for the most part, at any library or on the Internet?
Arranged by chapters, this book avoids a dry A-Z format. Chapters separate misetymologies by kind, including The Perils of Political Correctness (picnics have nothing to do with lynchings), Posh, Phat Pommies (the problems of bacronyming--the desire to make every word into an acronym), and CANOE (which stands for the Conspiracy to Attribute Nautical Origins to Everything).
Word Myths corrects long-held and far-flung examples of wrong etymologies, without taking the fun out of etymology itself. It's the best of both worlds: not only do you learn the many wrong stories behind these words, you also learn why and how they are created--and what the real story is.

Genres: Nonfiction, Language, Linguistics, History, Reference, Science, Words

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Dave Wilton is an independent researcher in historical linguistics, etymology, and slang origins. He is the author of Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends (Oxford Univ. Press, 2004). He is also the author of two recent articles in Verbatim magazine: A Hoagie By Any Other Name, on the various names for the sandwich (XXVIII/3, Autumn 2003) and Journols Boffo Lingo: The Slang of Daily Variety (XXX/1, Spring 2005).

Dave has an M.A. from George Washington University in National Security Policy Studies and a B.A. from Lafayette College in Government & Law. Based in Emeryville, California, he pays the bills by working as a product manager for NVIDIA, the computer chip maker. Past experience includes service in the US Army and work as a defense contractor and arms control negotiator.

Reviews

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

The scholarship seems solid, but the presentation is surprisingly dull. Here is an outline:

* Debunking the big boys: ring around the rosie, OK, the whole nine yards, rule of thumb, hot dog, windy city, eskimo words for snow, elizabethan english in the appalachians
* The Elizabethan e-mail hoax
* Faux-acronyms (POSH, GOLF etc.)
* False nautical etymologies (CANOE - the conspiracy to attribute nautical origins to everything)
* Vulgar stuff: hookers, harlots, condoms, crappers, pumpernickel
* Political correctness: picnic, jimmies, indian giver, squaw, gay, faggot, handicap
* Translations: chevy nova, jelly donuts, biting the wax tadpole, kangaroo, gringo

With the benefit of hindsight, the presence of the word "debunking" in the book's title should have been a warning. No matter how hard the author tries, by about the third chapter, the impression that one is being lectured to by a smug know-it-all is impossible to dispel.

A potentially useful reference, this book was no fun to read. The missing element was any sense of joy in the language on the author's part.

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The content of this book, I would rate as a four; the quality of writing is a two.

The writer really should have used a good ghostwriter for this one. I'm guessing that he wanted to sound authoritative to his readership (thus able to win their trust when he debunks these very well believed legends). He really missed the point that writing the book is enough for half the population to blindly follow your every word (which should have been blatantly obvious considering some of his research), and the skeptical half cares about the quality of your sources, not how smart you sound. The only thing that monotonous textbook-voice with tinges of smug has done is alienate most readers, and I feel that some of the other reviews clearly show that. The other reviewers probably care about his content.

In the end, I wouldn't subject any one I know to the torture of reading it unless they had an interest in linguistics or linguistic anthropology. I do think that the contents are important for other people to know so, I will be relaying the information verbally to my friends and loved ones.

[Crazy Uncle Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I majored in Linguistics in college. It has always amazed me how gullible people can be when it comes to language. When someone gets an e-mail promising some incredible stock tip or anatomical enhancement they will automatically dismiss it as ridiculous and delete it. However, when that same person gets an e-mail or is told a story by a friend that purports some crazy fairytale about where a word or phrase comes from they seem to instantly believe it. This book does a great job of debunking many of the most common of these false etymologies.

The main complaint I have about this book is the fact that David Wilton has no background in linguistics. However, he has done his research well and the vast majority of what he says is backed up by other etymological dictionaries and encyclopedias that I have consulted.

[Crystal Starr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did you hear the one about "Ring around the Rosie"? How it's about the Black Plague. Only, that's not entirely accurate as Wilton shows in "Word Myths". He spends some time taking apart words and phrases that have acquired histories, which upon closer look are more myth than fact.

I saw this pop up in my Goodreads feed from one of my friends and thought it sounded interesting. I picked up a used copy from my local independent bookstore and threw it in the carry-on for my flight. I have been on a nonfiction kick, but I wanted something fairly light-hearted and fun for my flight. And for the most part, I got exactly what I wanted.

This book had some interesting stories for where these words and phrases came from. A few I had heard before, but most were brand-new. I'll admit, I was a bit disappointed at how few of these myths I was familiar with - and those I did recognize, I never believed anyway. I had hoped to unearth new facts about word history, and while I did, it was about words that I never had heard the myths to in the first place.

The other challenging part was how unfamiliar the words and phrases themselves were to me. I have never called chocolate sprinkles "jimmies" and never even knew that chocolate sprinkles were called anything other than chocolate sprinkles.

Another part that made reading about the real history of a word or phrase challenging was how infrequently the word or phrase got a definition. This was especially hard for idioms ("chew the fat") and when you are reading about very, very slight differentiation in meanings between historical versions of the words. A quick definition, followed by a sentence using the phrase would have really gone a long way in helping me understand the phrase (define it in case I hadn't heard of it!) and helping me appreciate the real etymology.

The writing itself was decent enough. Sometimes it got a bit dry (such as plunking in huge quotes as proof of what a phrase was or was not in the past) or long (several entries went on an on into minute detail about a word's history - it seemed these words tended to be the "profane" ones, like the f-bomb), sometimes a specific topic would suddenly switch, with no breaks, to a general topic. But it did keep a light-hearted tone and was quick to read.

Even with the hiccups, it was an enjoyable, fast read. And even though I didn't make any ground-breaking, earth-shattering word discoveries, I still felt I learned a lot - which is a must for a non-fiction book.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of the book was fairly interesting, but nothing amazing. Wilton spent most of time debunking the legends, and very little time on what I wanted most to know - where those words/phrases actually DID come from. Most often, the answer was, "The legend is probably wrong - we can't prove that it's correct, in any case... but we don't actually know where the phrase comes from, anyway." That was rather disappointing.

Also, I was annoyed that he spent long sections on the etymology of various swear words. I really wasn't interested in that. I'd recommend that a prospective reader look through the table of contents first and just skip around.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the book does little to actually debunk any linguistic urban legends. In almost every case, the author's conclusion is that no one really knows how such-and-such word came about; we just know that the commonly related story is untrue. It should be apparent to anyone that in the absence of strong evidence for alternate etymology, the common story will persist. Also, the manner in which the various popular explanations are presented does more to reinforce them in the reader's mind than his subsequent rhetoric to refute.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't believe everything you read on the Internet. Or in the newspaper. Or in your textbooks.

This book was quite interesting. Much of it made me feel hopelessly stupid, but that was probably a good thing -- I was unlearning some things that I never should have learned to begin with, such as the supposed fact that the Inuit have 500 different words for snow.

My main problem with this book as a book is: Where was this guy's copy editor? Hello, commas? And his word usage was all wrong in some places, so that the reading was clumsy.In the last 10 pages or so, he even left a few words out. There is nothing about a book that frustrates me more than bad editing!

[Melanti · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little dry, but fun nonetheless.

There is more debunking incorrect etymologies than proving true ones, but that is to be expected from the title and description.

It seems a bit dry for a book aimed at the laity but not nearly scholarly enough for something aimed at a professional audience. But it does contain citations, which is refreshing since they're often left out for "pop culture" type books.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been awhile since I've read a book about stuff like grammar and linguistics, but this seemed like it would be a nice, fun title to dig into.

So lets talk about the positives. First - this is a really accessible book for just about anybody. If you are curious as to where certain words and expressions DID come from (mostly DID NOT) it is worth checking out.

The tone is pretty light and upbeat. Very often books like this can come across as exceptionally dry. Wilton does a really good job keeping the book light and interesting.

At the same time, this book does a whole lot to debunk common 'linguistic urban legends', but it doesn't put nearly as much effort into explaining what the true origins are. To some extent it is a little disappointing, but at the same time, it makes sense too.

One of the reasons people came up with these word legends in the first place, was because the true origins couldn't be traced, or they were so uninteresting that people wanted to spice them up a little bit. The true stories behind some of these words and phrases, is often less interesting and fun than the proposed 'myths.'

If you are really, really interested in the subject, it is worth checking out.
If you don't know what the word etymology means, and you don't ponder the origins of words, you probably won't get much enjoyment out of this.

[Dianne Landry · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had the potential to be an interesting and educational book, had it investigated these word myths with humour. Instead it is written like a textbook and just one big yawnfest. I skimmed over and any words or phrases I thought might be interesting I read but it was a waste of time. Somehow this author managed to make the origins of the word shit dull and you know that word is justbegging for fun to be made of it.

[Cheal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dry. The cover of this book is the most fun you'll have, unfortunately, but don't let that turn you off entirely if you're truly interested in debunking etymology myths. There are some great facts in this books and I feel better educated in a subject I am casually interested in for having read it. I did find myself skimming quite a bit, though, the further I got into it.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starts off interesting, but eventually grows boring, as he shoots down word-myth after word-myth using essentially the same argument each time -- the word appears in the record before the story in the myth allegedly took place. Even more disappointing is the realization that over half of his citations are to the Oxford English Dictionary, which seems rather lazy.

[Lisa Urso · Rating 1 out of 5]

SO GLAD to be done with this book! Very dry, boring, and hard to read. It had a lot of potential; it's always neat to hear the story behind many words. However, it was presented like a novel and written like a textbook. Not a great combination. And I ended up learning either very little, or getting confused about a lot of the material.

[Mark Isaak · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining exploration of etymological erroneousness. Several of the word myths I was familiar with (e.g., "posh" coming from "port out, starboard home"), but in other cases Wilton demolished beliefs I had held since at least adolescence. For example, the "ring around the rosie" rhyme has nothing to do with the Black Death, and Kennedy did not say, "I am a jelly donut" in German. Even when I knew the story was at least questionable, Winton gives the complete story, with quotes and references, and admits when parts are still uncertain. Along the way, several nontrivial aspects of linguistics come up, and Wilton briefly explains those, too. His scholarship on folkloric aspects of the urban legends is considerably less in quantity, but I can't fault the quality of what little there is of it. Still, this is very much a book on etymology, not on urban legends. I suppose there are many other word myths that the book could have included (it does not include "sincere" and its supposed origin from "without wax", for example), but he explains, and shows by example after example, how to handle such cases when one encounters them.

[Ensiform · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a survey of myths about English words and phrases, mostly debunking common but incorrect ideas about etymology, from debunking the famous "X words for snow," to various incorrect nautical origins of phrases, to unearthing lesser-known facts such as the origins of "hip hip hurrah" and "picnic." It's written in an erudite but clear and accessible style; it's a series of sections, like short articles, with almost no narrative linking them.

Even for someone like me who has read extensively on language and to whom the "X words for snow" myth and the Elizabethan e-mail hoax are obviously foolish old hat, there is much to learn here. The story of how "OK" derived and the ridiculousness of legends such as the Spanish Chevy "No va" fiasco are the most interesting to me, but everyone, neophytes and language mavens alike, can find oceans of interesting information. Just don't ascribe oceanic origins to everything.

[Jeneece Western · Rating 2 out of 5]

I learned some stuff. Most of the topics went something like "do you think you know this word or phrase by this story?...well, you don't....and here are 3-4 other stories that don't have enough research behind them to prove they are true either...guess we'll never know!"
Occasionally the information sparked something that made me think harder about verbage and how words are used and changed all the time and how I want to make sure I do the best job at communication that I can. It's nerdy and relatively boring. I sped read through most of it because you can glean a lot of the information if you just read a paragraph or two instead of the full pages.

[Shane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. The tone of this book came off as pretty arrogant to me and it really dragged it down in the end, which I largely skimmed. I did get something out of the beginning but as it went on it was less about learning the real history behind certain words and phrases and more of a 'how could you believe this made up story about this word from 1909 when obviously these history records show it in use in 1785'. Did learn where OK came from though. That's why it's 2 and not 1.

[Alexandra Valentina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, quick, little read. It has some interesting chapters that debunk certain widespread linguistic urban legends. A few of the chapters focused on myths I wasn’t too familiar with, but the first chapter- which focuses on the most oft-repeated linguistic misconceptions- and the last chapter were certainly the highlights for me. Definitely recommended if you’re in the mood for a light non-fiction read, and if you’re interested in etymology and linguistics.

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a book to sit down and read like a novel or biography, but great fun to dip into and enjoy in nuggets.It is not quite as lighthearted as its cover, but Wilton has a way with wit and words. Lots of footnotes and bibliography make me wonder if this is a PhD. thesis edited for the general reading public.

[Hal Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is precise and authoritative, and should be the last word on most discussions about folk etymologies.

It's also painfully wordy and redundant. How do I get my editors to let me be so verbose?

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting topic, but there a lot of quotes from as early as the 1300s, and they were very difficult to read because the spelling (and even letters) were not transcribed into modern English. There were even a couple Greek words written in the Greek alphabet, which did not flow when reading.

[Mary L · Rating 3 out of 5]

Huge disclaimer: I'm a big linguistics nerd, so I was more than a little biased toward Word Myths.

I mostly enjoyed this book. I think it could of done without the author's personal opinions about social issues. Overall, I found the book interesting; I think it was a great reminder to not just believe something because it's widely circulated.

[Geoffwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Right in a weird spot where I would imagine the people that can put up with the mildly academic text already know a lot of these and, uh, vice versa, judging by the reviews.

[Myron M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I should rate this 4 1/2 stars, because sometimes the real etymologies get short shrift. But ai really enjoyed reading this, and it was a quick read.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moral of the story: do your homework before passing on word/phrase origin stories because they are often wrong. 3.5 stars, interesting for anyone who enjoys etymology or linguistics.

[Troy Zaher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly interesting, and came in handy quite a few times when dealing with folk etymologies. More rtc

[Cheyenne]

A perfectly fine little pop linguistics book and a quick read. Use this if you want to "um actually..." up to 50% more at parties and events

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting information although I realized I don't really care that much about where words and phrases came from. The author came across as a little bit superior at times.

[Rossdavidh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Subtitle: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends

The Eskimo languages do not have an extraordinarily large number of words for snow. JFK was not understood by Berliners to be saying that he was a jelly donut (the mayor of Berlin, and future chancellor, Willy Brandt, had proofread his speech beforehand). The Chevy Nova did not have problems selling in Latin America because of its name ("nova" was also the name of a leaded gasoline sold by Pemex, the Mexican oil company, for many years). Jazz did not originate from a term for sexual intercourse. This is a book out to take away your linguistic fun.

It is sometimes astonishing how many false etymologies there are. "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge". "Port Out, Starboard Home". Every pop theory of word origin I know of, it seems, is in this book, and they're all wrong. In a few cases, such as the Union General Hooker (whose HQ was known as a den of iniquity) being the source of the term "hooker", which is mostly false (he was a child when the first printed instance of this word, in this sense, being used), but he might have caused the word to become more widely used in that sense. Mostly, though, they're simply wrong, wrong, demonstrably wrong.

"The whole nine yards" postdates WWII by two decades, and does not come from a length of ammo for a machine gun. SOS doesn't stand for anything, it was chosen simply because it was an easy Morse code to remember and recognize. Chicago is "the Windy City" because it's, you know, windy, not because of any metaphor about their politicians or anything else.

There are two reasons for reading a book like this. One is if you, like me, take a perverse delight in finding out that something popularly believed is incorrect. A more wholesome reason is that there are patterns to such malarkey. Wilton does a good job of sorting this horde of folk etymologies into categories, according to the likely motivation for its origin. Sometimes it is to poke fun at powerful people (e.g. JFK). Sometimes it is to boost your own ethnic group. Sometimes it is to tie everything to your own particular topic of interest (railroads, the Civil War, etc.). Sometimes it is to make some phrase like "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey" sound less crude that it obviously is, by claiming that it comes from some source other than the obvious.

Reading Wilton's (merciless) dissection of one bogus etymology after another, you can see enough of a pattern to hopefully recognize the next bogus story as such when you hear it. People produce plausible sounding, but incorrect, stories about more than word origins. Reading about how this works in a topic like word origins, which is relatively easy to be emotionally objective about, could help sharpen your senses for similar hooey on other topics.

That's my theory, anyway, though I can't prove it. It's also a delightful and easy read, that I can vouch for from firsthand empirical evidence.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did you ever think that "Ring Around the Rosie" makes reference to the Black Death of the Middle Ages? Or that "the whole nine yards" refers to the length of a machine gun's ammo belt on a WWII fighter plane? Or perhaps that Eskimos have 500 words for snow? If so, then you have been taken in by a linguistic urban legend. Like classic urban legends, these linguistic legends are popular and pervasive. But instead of propagating cautionary tales about the dangers of modern life, linguistic urban folklore spreads stories and "facts" about language and words. These "facts" are usually false, but the legends contain elements of truth that reflect on us and our society. (cover blurb)

~~~

David Wilton takes on the sacred cows of word or phrase origins (such as "Ring Around the Rosie" and "The Windy City") and provides their actual provenance and/or etymology. Naturally, there are some words and phrases that can't be traced to their origins: for these, Wilton shows us how the myth cannot be true. His breezy, light touch is just the right style for this sort of work. He's humorous without being petty, and informative without being pedantic. A fun read.