Etymological fallacy
An etymological fallacy denotes the proof error in the discussion of definitions to infer the actual meaning from the origin of a word.
construction
Situation: Certain word is used.
Premise: Certain word originally had a different meaning.
⇒ Incorrect conclusion: certain word is used incorrectly.
Reversed fallacy
However, one must not come to the reverse fallacy that the word used is automatically used correctly. If there is no corresponding consensus on words that have already been used, this cannot be called the corresponding word meaning. Word creations are excluded here, as one does not refer to an already existing word.
Problem with language development
Linguists emphasize that language evolves and that words do not fix their original meanings or origins. Because if this were the case, you would first have to know the origin of a word in order to be able to use it in everyday life. However, misunderstandings can also arise more easily if a word develops several meanings over a long period of time. In addition, it can lead to linguistic framing if a word is used more extensively than originally intended.
Examples
Franz: Paul ist ganz schön radikal. Er vertritt eine extreme Meinung. Peter: Mit radikal meint man, dass man ein Problem an der Wurzel packen muss. Paul packt das Problem nicht an der Wurzel an oder ist gegen das beherrschende System. Also ist er nicht radikal.
In his "realization", however, Peter ignored several facts:
- According to Duden, the word “radical” is used as a synonym for “extreme” and “ideological” in German.
- Peter's known meaning was derived from the Latin word radix , which means root. This also has nothing to do with “tackling something at the root”.
- Radical has a lot more meanings than what Peter named.
Wolfgang: Reich mir bitte mal den Schraubenzieher. Sebastian: Das heißt Schraubendreher, nicht Schraubenzieher. Man zieht damit keine Schrauben raus, sondern dreht sie raus.
In this case, the first person uses a common term, which from the underlying parts of the word should not make sense in the current German language. Nevertheless, Sebastian is wrong here, because even if the screwdriver is not intended for pulling out screws, it is also called a screwdriver. Even if “screwdriver” would be a more appropriate term and is therefore the technical term.