Word Routes
Exploring the pathways of our lexicon
Watch Out for Etymythology!Fri Apr 30 00:00:00 EDT 2010By Ben Zimmer
Say you're reading the "About Us" page on a company's website, and they tell a little story about how they came up with a common word long ago, perhaps as part of an early advertising campaign or in the creation of a consumer product. Should you believe the story? Don't count on it! That's the lesson of my latest On Language column in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine, exploring the tricky terrain of corporate etymology — or rather, etymythology.
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