Misnomer

Updated on Oct 11, 2024

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A misnomer is a word or term that suggests a meaning that is known to be wrong. Misnomers often arise because the thing received its name long before its correct nature was known, or because the nature of an earlier form is no longer the norm. A misnomer may also be simply a word that is used incorrectly or misleadingly. "Misnomer" does not mean "misunderstanding" or "popular misconception", and many misnomers remain in legitimate use (that is, being a misnomer does not always make a name incorrect).

Older name retained

The "lead" in pencils is made of graphite and clay, not lead; graphite was originally believed to be lead ore, but this is now known not to be the case. The graphite and clay mix is known as plumbago, meaning "lead ore" in Latin, and is still known as "black lead" in Keswick, Cumbria and elsewhere.

Blackboards can be black, green, red, blue, or brown. And the sticks of chalk are no longer made of chalk, but of gypsum.

Tin foil is almost always aluminium, whereas "tin cans" made for the storage of food products are made from steel with a thin tin plating. In both cases, tin was the original metal.

Telephone numbers are usually referred to as being "dialed" although rotary phones are now rare.

When a computer program is electronically transferred from disk to memory, this is referred to as loading the program. "Load" is a holdover term from the mid-20th century, when programs were created on punched cards and then loaded into a hopper for automated processing.

In golf, the clubs commonly referred to as woods are usually made of metal. The club heads for "woods" were formerly made predominantly of wood.

Similarity of appearance

Catgut is made from sheep intestines.

Head cheese is a meat product.

A horned toad is a lizard.

A velvet ant is a wasp.

Difference between common and technical meanings

Koala "bears" are marsupials not closely related to the bear family, Ursidae. The name "koala" is preferred in Australia, where koalas are native, but the term "koala bear" is still in use today outside of Australia.

Jellyfish and starfish are not even closely related to fish (although jellyfish do have a gelatinous structure similar to jelly).

A peanut is not a nut in the botanical sense, but rather a legume. Similarly, a coconut is not a botanical nut but a fruit.

Several fruit that are not berries include strawberries, bayberries, raspberries, and blackberries.

Association with place other than one might assume

Arabic numerals originated in India, though they came to be associated with the Arabs, who adopted them and introduced them to Europeans.

The guinea pig (Cavia porcellus) originated in the Andes not Guinea, and additionally is a rodent and unrelated to pigs.

French horns originated in Germany, not France.

Chinese checkers did not originate in China, nor in any part of Asia.

Other

Although dry cleaning does not involve water, it does involve the use of liquid solvents.

The "funny bone" is not a bone—the phrase refers to the ulnar nerve.

A quantum leap is properly an instantaneous change which may be either large or small. In physics, it is the smallest possible change that is of particular interest. In common usage, however, the term is often taken to mean a large, abrupt change.

"Tennis elbow" (formally lateral epicondylitis) does not necessarily result from playing tennis, nor as a result of any other repetitive strain injury.

References

Misnomer Wikipedia

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