neologism: notymology

[Mark Mandel]

In answering a question on quora.com, I wanted a snappy, transparent way to
discount a folk etymology, and didn't think of the existing term
"etymythology".... although, since I had never heard of this one and was
considering it a *nonce* false etymology, neither "*folk* etymology" nor
"ety*myth*ology" felt quite right. Here's the exchange:*


QUESTION:*
*What is the antonym of gadget, or what is a way to say "not a gadget" in a
unique way?*<http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-antonym-of-gadget-or-what-is-a-way-to-say-not-a-gadget-in-a-unique-way/answer/Christophe-Cop?__ac__=1#comment1137527>
Looking for fun ways to describe an item and want a short/sweet way to say
"not a gadget" - I've found this really difficult thus far.


*ANSWER #3:*
Christophe Cop <http://www.quora.com/Christophe-Cop>, Statistician
notget (as gadget comes from "got to get it"...) which will eventually
become nogget (for speech fluency reasons)
<http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-antonym-of-gadget-or-what-is-a-way-to-say-not-a-gadget-in-a-unique-way/answer/Christophe-Cop?__ac__=1#>
 <http://www.quora.com/Mark-A-Mandel>


*COMMENT TO ANSWER #3:*
 <http://www.quora.com/Mark-A-Mandel>
Mark A. Mandel <http://www.quora.com/Mark-A-Mandel>
Where'd you get that *notymology*? From the OED, under *gadget**:*
*Etymology*:  Origin obscure. First known in use among seafaring men, and
said by several correspondents to have been current c1870, and by a few as
far back as the fifties of the nineteenth century, but not found in print
before 1886.
One of the most plausible etymological suggestions is French *gâchette*,
which is or has been applied to various pieces of mechanism, e.g. in a lock
and in a gun; it is a diminutive of *gâche* staple (of a lock), wall-staple
or hook. The possibility of connection with French *engager* to engage (one
thing with another) has also been suggested; compare dialect French
*gagée*tool, instrument. Derivation <
*gauge* n. is improbable.


*ANSWERER'S REPLY TO COMMENT: *
=> Mark indicated that the ethymological explanation is wrong. I incline to
agree with that though "nogget" would still be my suggestion as antonym ;-)


*BTW
*Quora's topic of antonyms has a lot of questions that assume that every
word has an antonym. But then, in my experience, Quora in general has at
least as many stupid or ignorant questions as sensible ones.

--Mark

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