Is fallacy a 'bad' word

Answer 1

The word 'fallacy', pronounced 'fal-uss-ee', ('-al-' as in gal) isn't a bad word, in the sense of being offensive or rude. It means a false idea or belief.

Perhaps you are thinking of the word 'phallus', meaning an image, or representation, of a penis, or a penis itself? 'Phallus' is pronounced 'fal-uss', so it sounds similar to 'fallacy'; it isn't a bad word, either.

The noun 'fallacy' came into English in the fifteenth century, from a Latin form describing deception; it has some variations in meaning:

Deceptiveness;

An argument, or a statement, based on a mistaken belief which makes the entire argument, or statement, false;

An error in reasoning which makes an argument false;

A misconception which is the result of faulty reasoning;

A factoid; a false belief, idea, or theory, that many people believe to be true simply because so many people have come to believe it is true; for example: 'The notion that anyone can catch a cold simply from being in the rain is a fallacy; a factoid.'