[KS] Re: Folk Etymology [Was "Etymology of "Hof"?"]

[David Kosofsky]

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> Could someone enlighten me regarding the etymology of the Korean word
> "Hof" (as in English "bar / drinking place

It was maybe two years ago that I put exactly that question to my wife,
a native speaker of Korean.   Her disarming answer was that I had gotten
the wrong end of the stick regarding the `f'/`p' non-distinction in the
Korean phonological rendering of borrowed words,  and that in fact the
Korean word referred to `HOPs', the crucial  ingredient in brewing
beer.  She went on with a numbingly detailed explanation of the
anti-bacterial function of hops (she was a microbiology student at the
time), and it was a good half hour before I could impress on her a few
of the reasons why the hops-hof link wasn't likely.  She then made me
promise never to tell anyone about her one-woman folk etymology... a
promise that I thank this korean-studies list thread for encouraging me
to break.

David Kosofsky
Saba, Netherlands-Antilles