misnomer

[Dave Wilton]

It's been around at least since 1999.

Fury, David, "Fear Itself," "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" (TV series), air
date: 8 Oct 1999:

RILEY
Halloween ain't a night for responsibility.
It's when the ghosts and goblins come out.

BUFFY
That's actually a misnomer -

RILEY
Well, I didn't mean real ones.

(In the Buffyverse, demons take the night off on Halloween. They find the
holiday too crass and commercial.)


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
Herb Stahlke
Sent: Friday, March 28, 2008 5:50 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: misnomer

I came across the following usage of "misnomer" today in the current issue
of In-Fisherman, p. 70:

Up in Lake Wobegon country, pike that reach 20 pounds or more are commonly
called gators.  Today, most anglers accept the misnomer that consistent
fishing for gators is confined to waters beyond the road, somewhere deep in
the Canadian wilderness.  That's a myth.

I hadn't run into "misnomer" as "myth" before, but apparently it's common
enough that Fact-Archive has the following (
http://www.fact-archive.com/dictionary/Misnomer)

3.  Something that is not true; a
myth<http://www.fact-archive.com/dictionary/Myth>.


*It is a misnomer that elephants are afraid of mice.*
Usage note

The extended sense of *misnomer* meaning *myth* is generally considered
incorrect.

So how widespread is this usage?  AHD4 Online doesn't have a usage note on
it.

Herb

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org