The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #26219   Message #314175
Posted By: Uncle_DaveO
07-Oct-00 - 01:44 PM
Thread Name: BS: some interesting Etamology
Subject: RE: BS: some interesting Etamology
That's interesting, amusing, and ingenious, but I hope nobody takes the etymologies (properly so spelled) as being true.

As an example, tomatoes were once thought to be poisonous, all right, but it was because they are a member of the nightshade family, which has a number of poisonous members. Indeed, tomatoes themselves are today seen, with medical support, as causing some people's arthritis or rheumatism.

Laugh, but don't believe every bit of folk etymology you hear.

Dave Oesterreich