# Etymology of Synonyms of Breasts

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-synonyms-of-breasts/120852>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 26, 2002, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-synonyms-of-breasts/120852 "2002-07-26T00:56:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-synonyms-of-breasts/120852/41 "2016-09-27T13:18:55Z")

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> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> This is folk etymology, usually defined as someone looking through a pile of words and making associations because they feel like it _should_ be true. I can’t think of a single case in history in which a real world derivation developed this way.

I have to correct this. “Folk etymology” is a specific term in linguistics to describe how words change from an [unfamiliar pronunciation to one more familiar to the speaker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_etymology).

One example is “turtle.” The French word for the shelled lizard was “tortue.” The word “turtle” already existed in English as the name of a bird (for the sound it made). English speakers had trouble pronouncing “tortue,” so, over time, started using the the word “turtle,” which is close. The bird took on the name “turtledove” to differentiate.

“Isinglass” is another example, changed by folk etymology from the Dutch “huizenblaas.” There’s also the Picketwire Canyon in Colorado, originally named “Purgatoire” (purgatory) by French speakers.

What we’re talking about in this thread are etymological urban legends.

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**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-synonyms-of-breasts/120852/42 "2016-09-27T14:06:17Z")

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Whatever the technical term, there is a separate meaning for folk etymology that is applied to inventing plausible just-so stories, mentioned as Class II [on this page](http://grammar.about.com/od/fh/g/folketymterm.htm). That’s the one we mainly see on this Board.

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**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-synonyms-of-breasts/120852/43 "2016-09-27T14:55:06Z")

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> [@MrDibble](#):
>
> I dunno, why do they get called puppies?

Some comedian or script writer, looking for a funny description of a large breasted girl running, says “like two puppies fighting under a blanket”. The phrase sticks and gets shortened to “puppies”.

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