Date:  Tue, 8 Apr 1997 22:20:02 -0400
<br>From:  Ron Butters  RonButters[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM 
<br>Subject: Re: Etymologizing
<br>
<br> Mark Mandel asks whether
<br> `anyone ever tried to explain
<br> this general phenomenon' (of
<br> preferring fanciful etymologies
<br> to factual ones).
<br>
<br>It has always seemed to me that this must be a part of the same impulse that
<br>leads children to try to figure out meaning connections and leads to such
<br>howlers as TAKE IT FOR GRANITE and GLADLY THE CROSS-EYED BEAR. Haven't we all
<br>been taught that linguistic creativity is mired into our brains?
<br>