Lead Pencil Misnomers in American English

A misnomer is a word or term that suggests a meaning that is known to be wrong. Misnomers often arise because the thing named received its name long before its true nature was known. A misnomer may also be simply a word that is used incorrectly or misleadingly. "Misnomer" does not mean "misunderstanding" or "popular misconception."

Some of the sources of misnomers are:

1. An older name retained as a thing evolves. Examples
2. Transference of a product name to a word. Examples
3. An older name kept in the face of new information. Examples
4. A part used for the whole thing. Examples
5. A name retained based on a similarity. Examples
6. Difference between popular and technical meaning. Examples
7. Ambiguity - a term to confuse the hearer. Examples
8. An incorrect association of an item's origin. Examples
9. An attempt to mislead people. Examples
10. Reanalysis Examples
11. Others. Examples
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