Folk etymology (Was Re: Swiss enchiladas)

[Gregory {Greg} Downing]

At 06:53 PM 10/29/99 -0400, bergdahl at ohio.edu wrote:
>gell ya!
>
>>Gregory {Greg} Downing wrote:
>>
>>Schwizertütsch (so they've told me).
>>

Actually, to be more accurate, since you seem to be interested, they tell me
there is not even such a thing as Schwizertütsch. There are only local
dialects each of which is a bit different, e.g., Züritütsch (Zürich
Deutsch). So they say....

Since I'm being picky tonight, does anyone happen to have an early citation
in English for the term "folk-etymology"? The earliest I have (a year
earlier than OED2's earliest citation) is A. S. Palmer's 1882 volume
_Folk-Etymology_ (gee, that must have been hard to find, Greg). I also have
an 1876 citation of the term in German, i.e., Karl Andersen's monograph
_Deutsche Volksetymologie_. Anything earlier than that?


Greg Downing/NYU, at greg.downing at nyu.edu or gd2 at is2.nyu.edu