abstract:A false etymology (pseudoetymology, paraetymology or paretymology), sometimes called folk etymology although this is also a technical term in linguistics, is a [(plausible] but false) belief about the origins of specific words, often originating in "common-sense" assumptions. Because of their specious "obviousness", many are widely held.
The historyandevolutionofChinese charactersis such a messy accretion ofhistoricalsediment and false cognates that evenscholarsof Chinese take its etymologywith a grain of salt.