FALLACY

Use this forum to discuss past Good Words.
User avatar
Dr. Goodword
Site Admin
Posts: 7419
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:28 am
Location: Lewisburg, PA
Contact:

FALLACY

Postby Dr. Goodword » Tue Nov 25, 2008 12:57 am

• fallacy •

Pronunciation: fæ-lê-si • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. An untruth, a false idea, conclusion, or argument. 2. Falseness, incorrectness, erroneousness.

Notes: The adjective accompanying today's noun is fallacious and it does permit an adverb, fallaciously. We are also allowed to create an abstract noun, fallaciousness, from this adjective even though the meaning is pretty much the same as the second meaning of fallacy.

In Play: Fallacies are untruths, which means we are aswirl in them. We even find them entangled in our knowledge of words: "It is a widely-held fallacy that the Spanish architect Gaudí is the eponym of the English adjective gaudy." By the way, posh is not an abbreviation of "port out, starboard home" from the days of the British Empire in India. Another fallacy.

Word History: Today's Good Word is a makeover of Old French fallace, descendant of Latin fallacia "deceit". This word was built on fallax (fallac-s) "deceitful", derived from fallere "to deceive". The root of the Latin word also underlies English fail and false and, probably, Greek felos "deceitful". For sure we find it, after regular historical changes, in Russian zlo "evil". (It would not be a fallacy to say that we owe a debt of gratitude to Harry J. Walter for suggesting today's Good Word.)
• The Good Dr. Goodword

Faerthurin
Junior Lexiterian
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2008 9:36 pm

Postby Faerthurin » Tue Nov 25, 2008 4:51 am

I can't say for sure in this instance, but usually when Latin and Greek words appear closely related, the Latin borrowed from the Greek. I also thought the most common meaning of this word was closer to "misconception" than "falsehood".

This is the first time I've posted or emailed you, so I want to say thank you so much for the work you put into these daily words. They are very useful; the explanations and examples are exceedingly helpful and, well, explanatory. I also especially enjoy the names used in the example sentences, and the clever use of the Goodword or a related word in the message of thanks to the contributor.

User avatar
Dr. Goodword
Site Admin
Posts: 7419
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:28 am
Location: Lewisburg, PA
Contact:

Greek and Latin

Postby Dr. Goodword » Wed Nov 26, 2008 12:45 am

You are right about Latin and Greek, especially the initial F in these two words. Many etymologists think these words are not related and they may be right. I think there are too many parallels to be coincidental. If Latin borrowed fallax from Greek felos, however, we have to explain the E - A relation, and I don't think anyone can. However, many unpredictable things happen when a word moves from one language to another.

Glad you enjoy the series and I hope you will comment on many more.
• The Good Dr. Goodword


Return to “Good Word Discussion”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Ahrefs [Bot], Dr. Goodword and 54 guests