Folk etymology
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Folk etymology is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more familiar one through popular usage. The form or the meaning of an archaic, foreign, or oth
An example of folk etymology is the dialectal English word sparrowgrass for asparagus.
Forlorn hope
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A forlorn hope is a band of soldiers or other combatants chosen to take the vanguard in a military operation, such as a suicidal assault through the breach of a defended position, or the first men to
Folk etymology
…The word cockroach, for example, was borrowed from Spanish cucaracha but was assimilated to the existing English words cock and roach. The phrase forlorn hope originally meant "storming party, body of skirmishers" from Dutch verloren hoop "lost troop". But confusion with English hope has given the term an…
Colin Campbell leading the British forlorn hope at the siege of San Sebastián