Medieval polemicists derived place names from absurd Latin puns on Muhammad’s vices

Evidence

Embrico tells the story in similar terms. Gautier places the tomb in Mecha, an appropriate name since Muhammad was an adulterer (mechus); others, Gautier tells us, place his tomb in Babel, also appropriate since Muhammad’s effrontery matched that of the builders of the tower of Babel (Gautier, ll. 1077–86). — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 779

Categorization

• CANDY: The fake etymology of Mecca from ‘mechus’ (adulterer) and of Babel from the Tower’s builders’ pride is a delightfully petty, tweetable medieval burn.
• XREF: connects to: English ‘mawmetrie’ derives from Muhammad’s name for idolatry.