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    Syllabus is an incredibly interesting case. It is neither Latin nor Greek, but a misprint. Commented Apr 26, 2014 at 19:23
  • @PeterShor that is interesting. Here's an example of that sort of thing happening in "real time" and even within the same language: The term in geometry for a truncated tapering solid (e.g. a pyramid or cone with the point chopped off) is a Frustum. Wen I recently used the word in a few Facebook posts, every single person within my (broadly, "college-educated") peer circle who commented had misread it as "Frustrum". Even the one who pondered whether the plural should be "Frustra" rather than "Frustrums". (Or, as I actually wrote, "Frustums".)
    – FeRD
    Commented Jan 28, 2018 at 10:16
  • (And, yes, I absolutely charged myself the $25 pretentious-word fee, along with an admission that I had to first look it up myself.)
    – FeRD
    Commented Jan 28, 2018 at 10:18