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* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudolaw Pseudolaw]] of all kinds relies on this when it isn't purely InsaneTrollLogic, the most notable example being the [[https://www.reddit.com/r/TooAfraidToAsk/comments/174xpzx/what_do_sovereign_citizens_mean_by_theyre_not/ Sovereign Citizen claim]] that they don't need a driver's licence because an old edition of Black's Law Dictionary identifies "drive" and "vehicle" as intrinsically commercial, and therefore driving a car for non-commercial purposes is "travelling" in a "conveyance", and the Constitution protects the freedom to travel.
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* ''Fanfic/TwilightGetsAPuppy'': In season 4, chapter 57, an [[FictionalBoardGame in-universe version]] of ''Franchise/TheWorldOfDarkness'' features "were-ponies", with a passage from Spike's POV to rationalise the OrphanedEtymology.
-->It was an odd setting where magic was to be hidden, vampires ruled the night and were ponies were eco terrorists.\\
The name confused him wer, was old Latin for man, which was short for mannulus, which translated to pony, so the things in the game were pony ponies. Clearly what a man was was a miserable pile of secrets, and dodgy translations.
-->It was an odd setting where magic was to be hidden, vampires ruled the night and were ponies were eco terrorists.\\
The name confused him wer, was old Latin for man, which was short for mannulus, which translated to pony, so the things in the game were pony ponies. Clearly what a man was was a miserable pile of secrets, and dodgy translations.
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* A CaptainObvious example from Lucy Porter in Season 113, episode 8 of ''Radio/TheNewsQuiz'':
-->'''Lucy''': It's quite interesting, the word "ceasefire". I don't want to come over all [[Series/{{Countdown}} Susie Dent]] here, but it's actually, "ceasefire" comes from the English word "cease", meaning to stop, and the English word "fire", meaning to shoot at people.
-->'''Lucy''': It's quite interesting, the word "ceasefire". I don't want to come over all [[Series/{{Countdown}} Susie Dent]] here, but it's actually, "ceasefire" comes from the English word "cease", meaning to stop, and the English word "fire", meaning to shoot at people.
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* A running joke in ''Film/TheWorldsEnd'' has the replicants take exception to being called robots because "Robot comes from the Latin 'robotum' meaning 'slave' and we are not slaves." (They're partially correct; robot comes from the Slavic word robota, meaning forced labor or drudgery.)
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* A running joke in ''Film/TheWorldsEnd'' has the replicants take exception to being called robots because "Robot "the word robot comes from the Latin 'robotum' an Old Czech word 'robotnik' meaning 'slave' and we are 'slave'. And we're not slaves." (They're partially correct; robot comes from the Slavic modern Czech word robota, "robota", meaning forced labor "serf labor" or drudgery."drudgery".)
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It has to be said...
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* The liner notes to the Music/PDQBach recording ''Oedipus Tex & Other Choral Calamities'' make the parenthetical claim that the name "Alamo" comes from the French, meaning "in the style of one of Film/TheThreeStooges."
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* The liner notes to the Music/PDQBach recording ''Oedipus Tex & Other Choral Calamities'' make the parenthetical claim that the name "Alamo" comes from the French, meaning "in the style of one of Film/TheThreeStooges.""[[note]]''À la Moe'', get it?[[/note]]
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* A creationist example is the claim that the ancient Chinese word for "flood" means "eight people in a boat" i.e. Noah and his family. The Chinese sign cited is actually the word "boat"; which combines the old sign for "dug-out canoe" [ancient China being a river society] with the sign for 'chyan'/ "lead" [metal]which sounds like 'chuan'/"boat". In fairness folk etymology is very popular in Chinese because it assigns meanings to Chinese signs which were often just chosen for their sound similarities.
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* A creationist example is the claim that the ancient Chinese word for "flood" means "eight people in a boat" i.e. Noah and his family. The Chinese sign cited is actually the word "boat"; which combines the old sign for "dug-out canoe" [ancient China being a river society] with the sign for 'chyan'/ "lead" [metal]which [metal] which sounds like 'chuan'/"boat". In fairness folk etymology is very popular in Chinese because it assigns meanings to Chinese signs which were often just chosen for their sound similarities.
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** "Adam" is actually derived from the Hebrew ''Adama'' (sorry, ''[[Series/BattlestarGalactica2003 Galactica]]'' fans, emphasis on the last syllable) meaning "earth" or "soil" (because, you know, [[Literature/BookOfGenesis Adam was made from earth/soil]]...). There are a bunch of Hebrew puns and JustSoStory s in the old testament that really don't work well in translation or without their cultural background.
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** "Adam" is actually derived from the Hebrew ''Adama'' (sorry, ''[[Series/BattlestarGalactica2003 Galactica]]'' fans, emphasis on the last syllable) meaning "earth" or "soil" (because, you know, [[Literature/BookOfGenesis Adam was made from earth/soil]]...). There are a bunch of Hebrew puns and JustSoStory s {{Just So Stor|y}}ies in the old testament that really don't work well in translation or without their cultural background.
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* Comment sections are bad for this. Often terms like 'homo sapiens' will not be accepted by their programs because [[ScunthorpeProblem they contain]] 'homo' which is taken as a slur.
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* Comment sections are bad for this. Often terms like 'homo sapiens' "''Homo sapiens''" will not be accepted by their programs because [[ScunthorpeProblem they contain]] 'homo' contain the word]] "homo" which is taken as a slur.slur[[note]]in this case, the two meanings come from different languages: in "''Homo sapiens''", it's from the Latin for "human", while in "homosexual" (and thus the slur), it's from the Ancient Greek for "same"[[/note]].
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* In ''Literature/GulliversTravels'', Gulliver says that he "could never learn the true etymology" of the name of the floating island of Laputa. He rejects one derivation from "''Lap'', in the old obsolete language, signifies high; and ''untuh'', a governor," and proposes his own hypothesis that "Laputa was ''quasi Lap outed''; ''lap'' signifying properly the dancing of the sunbeams in the sea, and ''outed'', a wing; which, however, I shall not obtrude, but submit to the judicious reader." Even more judicious is Swift's failure to suggest the obvious Spanish transliteration.
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* In ''Literature/GulliversTravels'', Gulliver says that he "could never learn the true etymology" of the name of the floating island of Laputa. He rejects one derivation from "''Lap'', in the old obsolete language, signifies high; and ''untuh'', a governor," and proposes his own hypothesis that "Laputa was ''quasi Lap outed''; ''lap'' signifying properly the dancing of the sunbeams in the sea, and ''outed'', a wing; which, however, I shall not obtrude, but submit to the judicious reader." Even more judicious is Swift's failure to suggest the obvious Spanish transliteration.translation.
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* Several times in ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'', new villain Vector explains the origin of his name, neatly combining this trope with DontExplainTheJoke:
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* Several times in ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'', ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe1'', new villain Vector explains the origin of his name, neatly combining this trope with DontExplainTheJoke:
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As such, when you introduce you guide something into the issue being discussed, usually some new information, such as the etymology of a relevant word in that context. This happens in some works, when the etymology of words is used as a way to introduce bits of exposition, an explanation to a situation, a point or even a ReasonYouSuckSpeech. This trope shows that [[GratuitousLatin the speaker is cultured, smart and - usually - in control]], as most people in a pickle don't really worry about etymology. Usually starts with "Do you know where the word 'X' comes from?" - Note that the little etymology lesson must turn out to have something to do with the matter at hand.
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As such, when you introduce you guide something into the issue being discussed, usually some new information, such as the etymology of a relevant word in that context. This happens in some works, when the etymology of words is used as a way to introduce bits of exposition, an explanation to a situation, a point or even a ReasonYouSuckSpeech. This trope shows that [[GratuitousLatin [[SmartPeopleKnowLatin the speaker is cultured, smart and - usually - in control]], as most people in a pickle don't really worry about etymology. Usually starts with "Do you know where the word 'X' comes from?" - Note that the little etymology lesson must turn out to have something to do with the matter at hand.
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Compare TranslationWithAnAgenda and DictionaryOpening. Not to be confused with GratuitousLatin, when someone uses a Latin phrase to sound clever where the vernacular equivalent would do just as well.
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Compare TranslationWithAnAgenda and DictionaryOpening. Not to be confused with Subtrope of GratuitousLatin, when someone uses a Latin phrase to sound clever where the vernacular equivalent would do just as well.
although other root languages may be used equally well.
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Beware: it's very easy for careless people to lapse into ArtisticLicenseLinguistics with etymologies. Just because a word was historically derived from an older word doesn't necessarily make that part of the word's meaning as it's used today. (When modern English speakers say we live in a "county", we probably don't mean [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever "an area ruled by a count"]])
Compare TranslationWithAnAgenda and DictionaryOpening.
Compare TranslationWithAnAgenda and DictionaryOpening.
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Beware: it's very easy for careless people to lapse into ArtisticLicenseLinguistics with etymologies. Just because a word was historically derived from an older word doesn't necessarily make that part of the word's meaning as it's used today. (When modern English speakers say we live in a "county", we probably don't mean [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever "an area ruled by a count"]])
count"]].)
Compare TranslationWithAnAgenda andDictionaryOpening.
DictionaryOpening. Not to be confused with GratuitousLatin, when someone uses a Latin phrase to sound clever where the vernacular equivalent would do just as well.
Compare TranslationWithAnAgenda and
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--->"Divide the name {{Adam|AndEvePlot}} into two syllables, and it reads, ''a dam'', or obstruction... it stands for obstruction, error, even the supposed separation of man from God."
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* House offers one up in an episode of ''Series/{{House}}'' while Cameron is doing a test:
--> '''Cameron:''' Idiopathic T-cell deficiency?\\
'''House:''' "Idiopathic", from the Latin, meaning we're idiots 'cause we can't figure out what's causing it.[[note]]It's from Greek, with "idios" referring to "one's own" or "self" and "pathos" for "disease" -- basically "a disease with its own unique characteristics". The insult "idiot" also comes from the former, as in Ancient Greece public interaction was very prized and someone who was considered stupid or otherwise unfit for society was only good enough to stick to their own home.[[/note]]
--> '''Cameron:''' Idiopathic T-cell deficiency?\\
'''House:''' "Idiopathic", from the Latin, meaning we're idiots 'cause we can't figure out what's causing it.[[note]]It's from Greek, with "idios" referring to "one's own" or "self" and "pathos" for "disease" -- basically "a disease with its own unique characteristics". The insult "idiot" also comes from the former, as in Ancient Greece public interaction was very prized and someone who was considered stupid or otherwise unfit for society was only good enough to stick to their own home.[[/note]]
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** ''Dave Barry's Only Travel Guide You'll Ever Need'' contains an off-kilter list of Canadian provinces, including "Manitoba (literally, 'many tubas')."
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* Before the principles of historical linguistics were well understood, people still wanted to know the origins of words, even if they had to just [[AssPull make shit up]] to get there. The tendency to come up with far-fetched derivations was eventually parodied in the Latin phrase ''lucus a non lucendo,'' meaning "we get the word ''lucus'' (a grove) from groves '''not''' being well-lit (''lucere'')." Ironically, these were the times when the word "etymology" itself was coined from the Greek ''etymos'' "true, real," in other words the study of the true derivation of words.
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* Before the principles of historical linguistics were well understood, people still wanted to know the origins of words, even if they had to just [[AssPull make shit up]] to get there. The tendency to come up with far-fetched derivations was eventually parodied in the Latin phrase ''lucus a non lucendo,'' meaning "we get the word ''lucus'' (a grove) from groves '''not''' being how well-lit (''lucere'').(''lucere'') a grove '''isn't'''." Ironically, these were the times when the word "etymology" itself was coined from the Greek ''etymos'' "true, real," in other words the study of the true derivation of words.
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* Before the principles of historical linguistics were well understood, people still wanted to know the origins of words, even if they had to just [[AssPull make shit up]] to get there. The tendency to come up with far-fetched derivations was eventually parodied in the Latin phrase ''lucus a non lucendo,'' meaning "we get the word ''lucus'' (a grove) from groves '''not''' being well-lit (''lucere'')." Ironically, these were the times when the word "etymology" itself was coined from the Greek ''etymos'' "true, real," in other words the study of the true derivation of words.
