Argument from etymology

[[File:Screenshot 2023-09-03 194826.png|165px|thumb|right|For the record: This is untrue. The word "universe" more accurately translates to "all things into one", because it is where all things are found.<ref>[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/universe universe]</ref>]]
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{{cquote|'''Hairy:''' Remember, there's no "I" in "team".<br/>'''Cueball:''' No, but there's a "U" in "People who apparently don't understand the relationship between orthography and meaning".|||[[xkcd]]<ref>[https://www.xkcd.com/1562/ XKCD 1562] by Randall Munroe.</ref>}}
An '''argument from etymology''' is an informal [[logical fallacy]] typically used by [[fundamentalist Christian]]s, which attempts to prove something through pointing out an etymology (or a {{wpl | folk-etymology}} or a false etymology or a pseudo-etymology) of some term being used as opposed to actually making the case based on substance.

==Why it doesn't make sense==
Being as generous as possible, modern English began around the sixteenth century.<ref>[https://langster.org/en/blog/a-brief-history-of-the-english-language-from-old-english-to-modern-days. A Brief History of the English Language: From Old English to Modern Days]</ref> Given how much science has advanced in that time, it is understandable that many of our phrases might come off as outdated as new scientific knowledge proves the assumptions that caused us to first use them were incorrect. However, many still keep using the factually incorrect expressions, whether because of tradition, because of convenience, or because it still expresses a metaphorical truth even if it fails to express a factual one.

A good example of this is the phrase "broken heart," which comes from the notion that the human heart is the center of all emotions.<ref>[https://writingexplained.org/idiom-dictionary/broken-heart What Does Broken Heart Mean?]</ref> In truth, all the heart actually does is circulate blood throughout one's body,<ref>[https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/heart-and-blood-vessels/about-the-heart/how-the-heart-works How the heart works]</ref> with one's emotions actually coming from the hypothalamus in the [[brain]].<ref>[https://www.healthline.com/health/what-part-of-the-brain-controls-emotions What Part of the Brain Controls Emotions?]</ref> In the same regard, the etymology of "disaster" comes from the Italian ''disastro'', meaning "ill-starred", because it used to be believed that natural disasters were the result of certain [[stars]].<ref>[https://strangersguide.com/articles/origins-of-disaster/ Origins of Disaster]</ref> (This view actually got a mention in [[William Shakespeare]]'s famous play ''Julius Caesar'', specifically when Cassius tells Brutus "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars&nbsp;/ But in ourselves, that we are underlings."<ref>[https://shakespeare.mit.edu/julius_caesar/julius_caesar.1.2.html ''The Life and Death of Julius Caesar'' Act 1, Scene 2]</ref> As one website notes "This line refers to the influence of [[Fate|destiny]]"<ref>[https://poemanalysis.com/shakespeare-quotes/the-fault-dear-brutus/ The fault, dear Brutus]</ref> with Shakespeare using the belief that stars control the world around us as a rhetorical device to make his point.)

==Examples==
During one lecture, [[Kent Hovind]] attempted to prove that the [[universe]] was created by [[God]] through saying the word "universe" means "singular spoken sentence."<ref name=Kent>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KK3eh4Z5Ko4 Creation Seminar 1 - The Age of the Earth (FULL) Kent Hovind]</ref> This was also used by [[creationist]] [[Joshua Feuerstein]], who claimed the word "universe" means "a single spoken statement."<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxBASNmg4AY Dear Mr Atheist allow me to destroy evolution in 3 minutes!]</ref> [[The Amazing Atheist]] parodied this argument in one video through claiming the word "[[galaxy]]" means God is real because when a woman is being murdered by an axe she screams "Oh God!"<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrfF--cOeK8 SCIENCE IS A LIE! (ATHEISM DEFEATED)]</ref>

In September 2020, [[Michael Knowles]] spent an episode of his show saying that the concept of [[statistics]] was created by [[liberals]] to advance the interests of the state. His main reason for this is that the word in German comes from the same root as "statist" and therefore refers to collecting data on behalf of the state. Because of this, he feels that conservatives shouldn't use statistics&nbsp;— unless they help his cause of course.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EB9BwCXAak Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics | The Michael Knowles Show Ep. 609]</ref>

===Use by Flat Earthers===
{{main|Flat Earth}}
[[File:Dubay rap.png|165px|thumb|right|Picture from Dubay's rap.<ref name=rap>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg6qMreSuFU Once you go flat rap by Eric Dubay]</ref>]]
For some reason, this fallacy is a favorite among those who believe that the Earth is flat. Given many of their ideas are on the ancient side, it's very tempting for them to act like they have uncovered [[Appeal to ancient wisdom|some old truth which has been hidden from us]], in this case the etymology of the words representing what the words actually mean today.

Flat Earthers often claim that [[NASA]] in [[Hebrew]] means "to deceive". They cite that transliteration of נָשָׁא being Nāšā. What they fail to realize is that it is pronounced "naw-shaw". A closer sounding word in Hebrew is נָשָׂא, which translates to either "lift, carry or to take" and is pronounced "naw-saw".<ref>[https://worldeventsandthebible.com/nasa-in-hebrew What Does NASA Mean In Hebrew?]</ref> (One is also forced to wonder why an organization that aims "to deceive" would be so sloppy as to put their goal in their name, especially given that Hebrew is spoken by about nine million people,<ref>[https://www.unitedlanguagegroup.com/learn/7-interesting-facts-about-the-hebrew-language-for-hanukkah 7 Interesting Facts About the Hebrew Language for Hanukkah]</ref> meaning any of them could figure out the true intention of the agency rather easily.)

In a rap, the flat Earther/[[Holocaust denier]] [[Eric Dubay]] declared that the word "[[government]]" broken down means "[[Mind control|control of the mind]]". However, the graphic he shows actually sees the word being broken down to mean "to guide" for "govern" and "mind" for "ment."<ref name=rap/> Given "guiding" and "controlling" are not the same thing, this argument is already on thin ice. However, it gets even sillier when you realize Dubay has his [[Latin]] all wrong, as "government" more accurately breaks down to "instrument used to direct or rule".<ref>[https://grammarhow.com/does-government-mean-mind-control/ Does “Government” Mean “Mind Control” In Latin?]</ref>

Although not a work of Dubay, a book he has read out on his channel called ''50 Scientific Facts for the Downfall of Modern Astronomy'' by Ebenezer Breach uses this exact point as early as its first example, which reads:

{{quotebox|The word [[Astronomy]] is taken from the Greek words signifying the Laws of the Stars. Astron, a star, Nomos, a law. Nemo, to regulate a [[science]] that explains the regulation of the star. It is quite distinct from the science of Physical Geography, which belongs entirely to the Earth. For Astronomy we must look up; for George, look down.<ref>[https://ericdubay.wordpress.com/2022/12/30/50-scientific-facts-for-the-downfall-of-modern-astronomy/ 50 Scientific Facts for the Downfall of Modern Astronomy]</ref>}}

ODD Reality, a YouTube channel which promotes the flat earth, has also engaged in this before. In their video "The Case for Flat Earth," they argue the Earth can be flat despite all of the planets being round on the basis that the Earth is not a planet. Instead, they claim, the universe has seven planets (the [[Sun]], the [[Moon]], [[Mars]], [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]], [[Jupiter]], [[Venus]], and [[Saturn]]) which represent the seven days of the week, because planets were known to the ancients as "wandering stars" and they did not consider the Earth to be a "wandering star."<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8udts8Un4m4 The Case for Flat Earth] ''ODD TV'' (May 6, 2018) ''YouTube''.</ref> How this impacts calendars that don't have seven days a week, like the French Republican Calendar,<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/event/French-Revolution French republican calendar] Encyclopedia Britannica</ref> is left unexplained.  Also unexplained is why we should take the ancients' conception of the solar system as describing reality when they didn't even know what the planets were.

==See also==
*''[[Argumentum ad dictionarium]]''
*[[Mistaking the map for the territory]]

==References==
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[[Category:Christian fundamentalism]]
[[Category:Flat Earth]]
[[Category:Informal fallacies]]
[[Category:Pseudolinguistics]]

Categories: Christian fundamentalism, Flat Earth, Informal fallacies, Pseudolinguistics