ABSTRACT
Folk etymology is the alteration of a learned or unfamiliar word by ordinary users of a language. The alteration involves reinterpretation towards a similar sounding, more familiar word or morpheme so that the term makes more apparent sense to the user. Sill is an unfamiliar word in Northern Ireland and so window sill has been transformed into windy stool; and in Cameroon, blindfool replaces the less meaningful blindfold in both literal and metaphorical uses:
We used smoke to blindfool (i.e. mesmerise) the bees.
