Word Myths
Wilton, D. (2004). Word myths: debunking linguistic urban legends. New York, Oxford University Press.
Did you ever think that Ring Around The Rosie makes reference to the Black Death of the Middle Ages? Or that the whole nine yards refers to the length of a machinegun ammo belt? Or perhaps that Eskimos have 500 words for snow? If so, then you have been taken in by a linguistic urban legend. Like classic urban legends, these linguistic legends are popular and pervasive. Instead of propagating cautionary tales about the dangers of modern life, linguistic urban folklore propagates stories and “facts” about language.
Word Myths takes on these linguistic urban legends, not just debunking them, but also examining why they are told and what they tell us about ourselves. The book examines the patterns underlying these legends and comes to conclusions about such things as why we attach morbid tales to children’s rhymes, why newspapers keep promulgating false origins for terms like the Windy City, or why so many words have false nautical origins. Word Myths is an entertaining, yet authoritative, look at these and other linguistic legends.
“Most everything you know about word and phrase origins is likely to be wrong, and David Wilton proves it with a light touch and a wealth of fascinating case histories. Absolutely everyone with an interest in language will love this book.”
-- J.E. Lighter, Editor, Historical Dictionary of American Slang
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Copyright 1997-2007, by David Wilton
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Thanks for very interesting article. Keep up the good work. Greetings
Actually Americans have this wrong.... As any European / British person/child and they will tell you that it is NOT ring ‘AROUND THE ROSIE .... it is “A RING A RING OF ROSES, a pocketful of POSIES, at-ichoo, at-ichoo, (sneeze) we all fall down”.
The roses are of course flowers, and the ‘posies’ were a small bouquet of fresh flowers/herbs. This was a herbal remedy to keep colds and flu at bay.
The ring ‘AROUND THE ROSIE’ that Americans refer to is totally unrelated to the original words - as usual - you butchered the English language or just misheard the words coming out of the mouths of young Brits....
In all seriousness, I would suggest getting a copy of the book (from your local library--you don’t have to buy a copy) and actually read the history of “Ring Around the Rosie/Ring a Ring of Roses,” instead of just commenting on some advertising copy.
And it’s a children’s rhyme. There’s no “correct” version and calling variants to the version you were taught as a child “butchery” is ill-informed and quite provincial.
Thank you Dave....civility is always appreciated and a “welcome” sign to my further explorations on this wonderful website.
Dave,
I loved the book. I just have one question regarding the origin of “hot dog” or more simply, “dog”. It’s interesting that “dog” was a common word used for all kinds of sausages, humorously suggesting that dog meat was used. How and when did the term stop being used in the more general sense, and start being used to describe one particular kind of sausage - while also forgetting the humorous suggestion that it contains dog meat? More simply, at what point was the origin forgotten and why?
Thanks!