"The term "conspiracy theory" calls to mind a variety of dubious claims and controversies, like rumors about Area 51, claims that the Earth is flat, and the movement known as QAnon. At first blush, these phenomena would seem to have little in common with bogus word origins. But there are a variety of false etymologies that spread virally and refuse to go away, in much the same way that stories about chemtrails, black helicopters, and UFOs refuse to die."
"Some examples: "rule of thumb" has nothing to do with the thickness of a switch that husbands could employ to strike their wives. "Marmalade" doesn't derive from the utterance "Marie est malade" (Mary is ill). "News" isn't an acronym for "north, east, west, and south." And despite Van Halen's 1991 studio album title, the phrase "for unlawful carnal knowledge" is not the origin of the language's most notorious expletive. Ditto for "tip"-it's not an acronym for "to insure promptness.""
False etymologies are invented word histories that seem to explain a real or hidden meaning that most people are unaware of. Many familiar phrases and words have popular but incorrect origin stories: 'rule of thumb' tied to domestic violence, 'marmalade' linked to 'Marie est malade', 'news' as an acronym for compass points, 'posh' from 'port out, starboard home', and 'tip' as 'to insure promptness'. These stories spread virally like memes and mirror the longevity of urban legends and conspiracy claims such as chemtrails or QAnon. Social transmission by word of mouth and psychological impulses toward sensational explanations sustain their persistence.
Read at Psychology Today
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