Idiom where words are misleading

Question

I'm trying to find an idiom with knowingly misleading words. For example, consider guinea pig: this animal definitely is not a pig, and its origin is not Guinea. Both words are misleading. In Russian it is called not "guinea pig" but a "sea pig" (if translate the name to English literally), and again: both words are misleading, and that has become some sort of an idiom of giving wrong names to entities. In English however, as an idiom "guinea pig" means somewhat different (a subject to an experiment), so I wish to find an English way to express the nonsense of giving misleading names.

Update: I don't need the name of this term. I have a practical purpose of using an idiom where it is clear to a native speaker that each word it consist of is a misnomer.

Answer 1

Could you be looking for misnomer?

Collins Dictionary gives:

If you say that a word or name is a misnomer, you mean that it describes something incorrectly.

Herbal 'tea' is something of a misnomer because these drinks contain no tea at all.

However, I doubt misnomers are intended to be deliberately misleading; the names just stick for various reasons.

This is different from misinformation where the information provided is deliberately misleading.

Again, Collins gives:

Misinformation is wrong information which is given to someone, often in a deliberate attempt to make them believe something which is not true.

Answer 2

There's a whole class of terms, insults really, which consist of a nationality or city combined with a noun or verb. Since the British were rivals of the Dutch in the empire game, there are a number which target that nationality. For example, Dutch Treat (not a treat at all, you pay for your own meal) and Dutch Courage (alcohol, so not really courage). We also have French Letter (a condom), Welsh rabbit (not rabbit, or even meat, and perhaps not Welsh).

The term "Sweetbreads" (pituitary and thymus glands) is misleading to modern English speakers (not bread, and only somewhat sweet), but the name is very old and perhaps not deliberately misleading.

I'm not sure there is a clear-cut example that most English speakers would instantly recognize as exactly fitting your description. For example, I'm aware of Kate Bunting's example, but the quote attributed to Voltaire doesn't spring to mind instantly upon reading "Holy Roman Empire".

Answer 3

You could call it a "parkway/driveway situation".

This references the question "Why do we park on the driveway and drive on the parkway?" I've seen this attributed to several comedians, most plausibly to George Carlin.

This isn't an idiom, as I've never heard anyone else use the phrase "parkway/driveway situation", but it does reference a well-known idiom (the musing of the comedian).

Answer 4

Perhaps these wouldn't be readily recognised as misnomers, because they are so common, but consider:

• A butterfly -- not a fly, and isn't made of or produces butter.
• A jellyfish -- not a fish at all, and isn't made of jelly.
• An English horn is a woodwind instrument originating from Silesia (currently in Poland).
• A Jerusalem artichoke -- a kind of sunflower native to North America (and you eat the roots, not flower buds).

Answer 5

Maybe a modest proposal? In idiomatic usage, describing something as a "modest proposal" can generally be taken to mean that it's a ridiculous joke or an unreasonable demand made in bad faith. It takes its name from Jonathan Swift's satirical essay proposing cannibalism as a solution to Irish poverty. From Britannica:

The essay is a masterpiece of satire, with a blend of rational deliberation and unthinkable conclusion, and its title has come to symbolize any proposition to solve a problem with an effective but outrageous cure.

That said, it's not a totally ubiquitous idiom. Someone unfamiliar with the satirical origin of the phrase may read it at face value instead of with the intentionally deprecating intent.

Answer 6

I believe the best term for this is a "Red Herring".

A Red Herring is something that distracts from the real meaning/ real issue. For example, sometimes in a mystery novel the author might add some seemingly innocuous detail that grabs the reader's attention. This might distract them from deducing the real facts of the case.

In the case of naming/labelling a Red Herring would be a label given with the purpose of diverting from an item's actual usage or origin.