# The most commonly incorrect science has to be... \[edited\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 6, 2017, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-commonly-incorrect-science-has-to-be-edited/792929 "2017-08-06T17:41:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-commonly-incorrect-science-has-to-be-edited/792929/1 "2017-08-06T17:41:03Z")
…etymology. It seems like 90% of the time you are part of a conversation, or just overhear one where someone says “You know where that comes from? It’s from…”, the “fact” they give is total urban legend bullshit. Yesterday at the bar, I over heard 2 different conversations that I had to hold my tongue not to butt-in and correct, and again at the Grocery store this morning. People spout dietary science BS pretty commonly, but it’s far more often that someone says something correct than word/phrase origins. And things like Magnetohydrodynamics that nobody knows enough to give a correct answer, never are part of a conversation to be incorrect about in t The first place. Edited: Ahh crap. I screwed up the title capitalization and punctuation so it looks like one of those sentence fragment spam threads. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-commonly-incorrect-science-has-to-be-edited/792929/2 "2017-08-06T18:04:04Z")
Is “science” just any word ending with -ology? If so, I’ll go with astrology, phrenology, or mixology. You’re right about false etymologies though. The Word Detective called out any acronym before WWII as probably false, and warned to take a skeptical look at nautical origins. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-commonly-incorrect-science-has-to-be-edited/792929/3 "2017-08-06T18:31:40Z")
This phenomenon is not new, it was so frequent in the past that when false word origins were uttered the usual response was some form of the phrase “Eat my \_\_\_\_\_!”. It was used so often it eventually became abbreviated in writing to “etym”, from which the term “etymology” was formed. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-commonly-incorrect-science-has-to-be-edited/792929/4 "2017-08-06T18:35:07Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > This phenomenon is not new, it was so frequent in the past that when false word origins were uttered the usual response was some form of the phrase “Eat my \_\_\_\_\_!”. It was used so often it eventually became abbreviated in writing to “etym”, from which the term “etymology” was formed. Wow, that’s interesting! I just posted about that on Facebook! Got tons of likes and shares so it’ll be common knowledge soon. Check Trump’s tweets for confirmation. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-commonly-incorrect-science-has-to-be-edited/792929/5 "2017-08-06T19:05:45Z")
So is your issue that sometimes science is wrong and you want to know which science is most wrong most often? Or are you fussing that clueless people who don’t know something just make crap up and you want to know which science is most prone to having crap made up by idjits? The answer to the second question is easy: which topic do humans talk about most? That’s the one they make up the most clueless stuff about. So probably male-female relationships or diet / health / exercise. Or politics; plenty of idjits there. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-commonly-incorrect-science-has-to-be-edited/792929/6 "2017-08-06T19:11:52Z")
OP: what examples did you hear, so that we know what to work with? In psychology, evolutionary and social psych both require you to sift through a bunch of BS to find genuine insights. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-commonly-incorrect-science-has-to-be-edited/792929/7 "2017-08-06T19:14:58Z")
OP, not 100% sure what you wanted done, but it looks less spammy now. PM or report your OP if you want additional changes. > [@wolfman](#): > > …etymology. It seems like 90% of the time you are part of a conversation, or just overhear one where someone says “You know where that comes from? It’s from…”, the “fact” they give is total urban legend bullshit. Yesterday at the bar, I over heard 2 different conversations that I had to hold my tongue not to butt-in and correct, and again at the Grocery store this morning. > > People spout dietary science BS pretty commonly, but it’s far more often that someone says something correct than word/phrase origins. And things like Magnetohydrodynamics that nobody knows enough to give a correct answer, never are part of a conversation to be incorrect about in t > > The first place. > > Edited: Ahh crap. I screwed up the title capitalization and punctuation so it looks like one of those sentence fragment spam threads. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-commonly-incorrect-science-has-to-be-edited/792929/8 "2017-08-06T19:17:01Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > Wow, that’s interesting! I just posted about that on Facebook! Got tons of likes and shares so it’ll be common knowledge soon. Check Trump’s tweets for confirmation. That’s amazing! I got that from your Facebook post, which proves the following true: > [@Abraham Lincoln](#): > > A false etymology spreads faster than the speed of light ---
**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:** [August 6, 2017, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-commonly-incorrect-science-has-to-be-edited/792929/9 "2017-08-06T19:26:15Z")
Etymology is as accurate as any other science you can name. The problem is that people who aren’t etymologist and who haven’t studied the field come up with false etymologies and etymological urban legends. They repeat stories without actually consulting a dictionary. That’s not the fault of etymology (whose results are ridiculously easy to find these days). It’s like complaining that astronomy is wrong because some people say the Earth is flat. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-commonly-incorrect-science-has-to-be-edited/792929/10 "2017-08-06T19:30:27Z")
Right. It’s because each one of us speaks at least one language – and not just knows how, but actually does it, all the time (including in our heads) – so we naturally tend to think we are “experts” in etymologies and other language-related knowledge, when in fact most of us aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-commonly-incorrect-science-has-to-be-edited/792929/11 "2017-08-06T19:31:29Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > This phenomenon is not new, it was so frequent in the past that when false word origins were uttered the usual response was some form of the phrase “Eat my \_\_\_\_\_!”. It was used so often it eventually became abbreviated in writing to “etym”, from which the term “etymology” was formed. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-commonly-incorrect-science-has-to-be-edited/792929/12 "2017-08-06T19:44:30Z")
I would cut etymology some slack due to the complexity – aren’t there like, billions of species of insects out there? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-commonly-incorrect-science-has-to-be-edited/792929/13 "2017-08-06T19:51:44Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I would cut etymology some slack due to the complexity – aren’t there like, billions of species of insects out there? > **[Wrong Superhero](https://xkcd.com/1012/)** > > Hi! Someone call for me? I'm a superhero who specializes in the study of God's creation of Man in the Book of Genesi-- HOLY SHIT A GIANT BUG! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-commonly-incorrect-science-has-to-be-edited/792929/14 "2017-08-06T20:13:49Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Right. It’s because each one of us speaks at least one language – and not just knows how, but actually does it, all the time (including in our heads) – so we naturally tend to think we are “experts” in etymologies and other language-related knowledge, when in fact most of us aren’t. In other words, the Cunning-Drooler effect at work! I know all about that word stuff. I’m an [expert](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect)! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-commonly-incorrect-science-has-to-be-edited/792929/15 "2017-08-06T20:43:07Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > OP, not 100% sure what you wanted done, but it looks less spammy now. PM or report your OP if you want additional changes. Perfect. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![edwardcoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cab0a1/32.png) [@edwardcoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwardcoast)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2017, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-commonly-incorrect-science-has-to-be-edited/792929/16 "2017-08-07T04:31:41Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > …etymology. It seems like 90% of the time you are part of a conversation, or just overhear one where someone says “You know where that comes from? It’s from…”, the “fact” they give is total urban legend bullshit. **Yesterday at the bar** , I over heard 2 different conversations that I had to hold my tongue not to butt-in and correct, and again at the Grocery store this morning. > > People spout dietary science BS pretty commonly, but it’s far more often that someone says something correct than word/phrase origins. And things like Magnetohydrodynamics that nobody knows enough to give a correct answer, never are part of a conversation to be incorrect about in t > > The first place. > > Edited: Ahh crap. I screwed up the title capitalization and punctuation so it looks like one of those sentence fragment spam threads. :smack: You actually go to a bar, and expect to hear intelligent conversation? Only losers hang out at bars. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2017, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-commonly-incorrect-science-has-to-be-edited/792929/17 "2017-08-07T12:25:11Z")
Ahh the Straight Dope, nothing like a Monday morning Threadshit calling me a loser out of nowhere. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2017, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-commonly-incorrect-science-has-to-be-edited/792929/18 "2017-08-07T16:43:14Z")
> [@edwardcoast](#): > > You actually go to a bar, and expect to hear intelligent conversation? Only losers hang out at bars. Don’t reply if you don’t have anything to add to the discussion other than dumping on it. > [@wolfman](#): > > Ahh the Straight Dope, nothing like a Monday morning Threadshit calling me a loser out of nowhere. Consequently, however, just report posts you think do this, don’t call it out yourself, that’s what the mods are for…doing it yourself just makes it look a little like jr modding.