honcho > honchas

[Amy West]

Again, I fear I am asking a stupid, fundamental, obvious question
that is firmly grounded in my deep ignorance:

Can we understand folk etymology as yet another instance of the
constant reanalysis of the language that speakers perform on the
language?

If not, what's the current linguistic understanding of what "folk
etymology" is?

---Amy West

>Date:    Tue, 30 Jan 2007 16:57:12 -0800
>From:    "Michael T. Wescoat" <mtwescoat at UCDAVIS.EDU>
>Subject: honcho > honchas
>
>There is a cute example of a coinage based on a folk etymology in the
>Doonesbury strip for 30 Jan. 07.
>
>[Two female engineering students are sitting in front of a robot
>which they cannot get to work as intended] We're engineering
>*honchas*, and the thing just sits there mocking us!

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