History Main / OrphanedEtymology

* ''{{VideoGame/Terraria}}'' has {{Molotov Cocktail}}s as a craftable weapon, the Uzi as a [[RandomlyDrops random drop]] and Pad Thai can be purchased from the traveling merchant. Vyacheslav Molotov, Thailand and Israel presumably do not exist in the world of ''Terraria''.

** Tolkien indicates in ''Literature/TheHobbit'' that hobbits play golf, which he atributes to Bilbo's ancestor Bandobras "Bullroarer" Took knocking off the head of the Goblin-king Golfimbul with a club and sending it flying until it landed in a rabbit hole during the Battle of Greenfields.

When played straight, this is often an aspect of the TranslationConvention, in that the phrase is uttered for the viewer's benefit, rather than the characters'. Ways to [[DefiedTrope defy this trope]] include HoldYourHippogriffs, CallARabbitASmeerp, OhMyGods, or YouMeanXmas. In actual translations this may be the result of a {{Woolseyism}}, as cultural references may not transfer properly.

* ''Manga/TheFiveStarStories'' has numerous things and people named after Earth stuff despite either taking place ALongTimeAgoInAGalaxyFarAway or a future so distant that nobody knows much about life before space colonization. Lampshaded at one point where Ladios Sopp indulges in a bit of LeaningOnTheFourthWall and jokingly asks Chrome Ballanche, a MadScientist who has created several ArtificialHuman "Fatimas" with names based on Greek and other mythologies just where he comes up with these names.

* In one episode of ''WebVideo/CriticalRole: Season 2'', Beau asks Nott if she knows what StockholmSyndrome is. [[GameMaster Matt]] riffs on this by suggesting that the phrase exists in the same context in Exandria as it does in real life, due to an incident involving a man named Gerald Stockholm.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': The consistent use of the term "pillow-biter" to refer to gay men (usually contemptuously). This is a real term in modern British slang meaning just what it's used to mean in the show, but it dates from the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorpe_affair 1979 trial]] of former [[UsefulNotes/BritishPoliticalSystem Liberal Party]] leader [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Thorpe Jeremy Thorpe]] who was charged with incitement to/conspiracy to commit murder of a former homosexual partner (specifically deriving from his accuser Norman Scott's testimony that he "bit the pillow" when Thorpe penetrated him). Needless to say, neither Jeremy Thorpe nor his trial existed or occurred in Westeros.

*** {{Fanon}} (well, one discussion on afp) has it that Discworld gypsies are descended from itinerant plaster-of-Pseudopolis sellers, hence the name is derived from "gypsum."

** This is a bit of an aversion since several of the ''Star Wars'' tie-ins around the time the film came out seemed to be written under the assumption that Earth creatures did, in fact, exist in the galaxy far far away. [[FridgeLogic The reason Luke doesn't know what a duck is that he lives on a desert world.]] Eventually, ducks are introduced into the canon.

** In the Buu arc, Mr. Satan reads ''A Dog of Flanders'' to Majin Buu as part of a joke about how Buu finds the [[DownerEnding ending]] [[BlackComedy hilarious.]] The novel is very popular in Japan (even having [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Dog_of_Flanders#Film,_TV_and_theatrical_adaptations several]] Japanese TV adaptations before this chapter was written), so the intended audience would've gotten the reference immediately. Apparently there's a Belgium on Dragon Ball Earth too... or else the novel is in-universe fantasy.

* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'': Dates use B.C. and A.D., even though Jesus Christ does not appear to exist in the game's universe. This system is apparently based on the founding of the kingdom of Guardia, but that doesn't explain the usage of those terms. Making this even stranger is that Japan doesn't normally use B.C. and A.D., having instead terms that translate to "before common era" and "Western calendar" as equivalents, yet the Japanese version of the game still used B.C. and A.D. in the dates. The game also refers to 600 A.D as the "Middle Ages" without saying what its the middle ''of'', although this could be HandWaved as saying they mean midway between 1 A.D and 1000 A.D (the "present-day" in the game's timeline) or something along those lines.

** The Lucerne is a polearm named after the city of Lucerne, Switzerland, where it was popularly used during the 15th to 17th centuries. Presumably, neither Lucerne nor Switzerland exist in the setting's constructed DarkFantasy universe, yet the weapon is in all three games and then later in ''VideoGame/EldenRing'' with its name unchanged. Interestingly, the series' predecessor ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'' actually ''did'' change the name to "Mirdan Hammer", with FlavorText saying it originated from the in-universe land of Mird.

** There are numerous references to days of the week such as Sunday, Friday, and Tuesday, not just in ''Inquisition'' but throughout the series. Those days of the week come from the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_the_days_of_the_week#Germanic_tradition Germanic calendar,]] and are named after mythological figures from Norse mythology (for the example, Thursday is named after Thor, i.e. "Thor's day"). Obviously, these figures do not exist in ''Dragon Age''[='s=] HighFantasy setting.

* In the ''WebVideo/LoadingReadyRun'' "Krog" series of sketches much of the humor comes from from averting this and making up bizarre and [[IncrediblyLamePun punny]] explanations for cavemen to use extremely modern phrases like "problematic post" and "best way to catch backdoor hacker is with honeypot," which here means a person hacking open a cave's back door with an axe and getting hit by a [[BucketBoobyTrap pot of honey placed over it]].

* Lampshaded repeatedly in ''Literature/VoidDogs'', including a self-deprecating reference to an "early 21st-century writer" who was notorious for her insistence on lampshading Orphaned Etymology.

* In one issue of ComicBook/StarWarsMarvel1977, Han Solo says "I guess I shouldn't have skipped so much Sunday school as a kid." Not only did the concept of Christianity not exist in the Star Wars universe, but later expanded universe material revealed that "Sunday" didn't exist either, since they have their own names for days of the week.

** When the Kamehameha wave is first introduced, Puar asks Yamcha what that is, and Yamcha directly references the attack's namesake by answering that it's the name of a Hawaiian king, even though Hawaii shouldn't exist.
** In the Japanese version of ''Anime/DragonBallZBrolyTheLegendarySuperSaiyan'', a drunk Master Roshi exclaims in response to Krillin's terrible karaoke that Krillin is "Nippon ichi!" meaning "best in all Japan!" even though Japan doesn't exist in the Dragon World.
** [[DubInducedPlotHole In the Ocean dub]], one of the more awkward instances of NeverSayDie occurs during the fight with Guldo. Krillin worries about Vegeta letting them "go the way of the dinosaurs," which doesn't make sense since [[LivingDinosaurs dinosaurs are still around]] in the Dragon World.

* In ''Series/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', when Deep Thought declares that the answer to "life, the universe and everything" is 42, one of its creators' descendents says to the other "we're going to get lynched, you know that?" The term is believed to have originated in the 18th Century, but the scene in question is the origin story of Earth itself, but there's no need to be that specific, as the scene in question is about the origin story of Earth itself.

* In ''Series/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', when Deep Thought declares that the answer to "life, the universe and everything" is 42, one of its creators descendents says to the other "we're going to get lynched, you know that?" The term is believed to have originated in the 18th Century, but the scene in question is the origin story of Earth itself, but there's no need to be that specific, as the scene in question is about the origin story of Earth itself.

** The Franchise/SuperSentai franchise has occasionally paid homage to ''Power Rangers'' by using the term "Zord" to refer to their HumongousMecha (specifically the G-Zord from ''Series/MiraiSentaiTimeranger'' and as a catch-all term in ''Series/TokumeiSentaiGobusters''). However, the name presumably came from the Mighty Morphin team's mentor Zordon of Eltar, who doesn't even exist in ''Sentai'' continuity.

** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E8LookBeforeYouSleep Look Before You Sleep]]", Applejack jumps on the bed while yelling "GERONIMO!" This exclamation derives from the name of an Apache leader whom Applejack would have had no way of ever hearing of. The practice of yelling it while jumping comes from US Army Paratroopers, who adopted the phrase from a 1939 movie to show thier lack of fear when jumping out of airplanes in World War II; neither the movie, nor the paratroopers, nor the war ever existed in Equestria.

** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E8LookBeforeYouSleep Look Before You Sleep]]", Applejack jumps on the bed while yelling "GERONIMO!" This exclamation derives from the name of an Apache leader whom Applejack would have had no way of ever hearing of.

* In one issue of ComicBook/StarWarsMarvel1977, Han Solo says "I guess I shouldn't have skipped so much Sunday school as a kid." Not only did the concept of Christianity not exist in the Star Wars universe, but later expanded universe material revealed that "Sunday" didn't exist either.