Editing False etymology (section)

==Source and influence==
Erroneous etymologies can exist for many reasons.  Some are reasonable interpretations of the evidence that happen to be false.  For a given word there may often have been many serious attempts by scholars to propose etymologies based on the best information available at the time, and these can be later modified or rejected as linguistic scholarship advances.  The results of [[medieval etymology]], for example, were plausible given the insights available at the time, but have often been rejected by modern linguists.  The etymologies of [[Humanism|humanist]] scholars in the early modern period began to produce more reliable results, but many of their hypotheses have also been superseded.

Other false etymologies are the result of specious and untrustworthy claims made by individuals, such as the unfounded claims made by [[Daniel Cassidy]] that hundreds of common English words such as ''[[wikt:baloney|baloney]]'', ''[[wikt:grumble|grumble]]'', and ''[[wikt:bunkum|bunkum]]'' derive from the [[Irish language]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Zwicky |first=Arnold |url=http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005098.html |title=Language Log: Gullibility in high places |publisher=Itre.cis.upenn.edu |date=2007-11-09 |access-date=2015-07-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Liberman |first=Mark |url=http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003326.html |title=Language Log: The bunkum of 'The Bunkum of Bunkum'? |publisher=Itre.cis.upenn.edu |date=2006-07-06 |access-date=2015-07-12}}</ref>

In the United States, some of these scandalous legends have had to do with [[racism]] and [[slavery]]; common words such as ''picnic'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/language/offense/picnic.htm |title=Picnic Pique |website=Snopes.com |access-date=5 March 2018|date=21 January 2017|last= Mikkelson|first =David}}</ref> ''buck'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/language/offense/buck.htm |title=Etymology on the phrase 'passing the buck' |website=Snopes.com |date=22 December 2013 |access-date=2015-07-12}}</ref> and ''crowbar''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/language/offense/crowbar.asp |title=Etymology of Crowbar |website=Snopes.com |date=14 December 2008 |access-date=2015-07-12}}</ref> have been alleged to stem from derogatory terms or racist practices.