‘Krowemoh’ does not mean ‘child abuse’ in Latin

McKenzie Sadeghi

| USA TODAY

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The statement: ‘Homework’ spelled backwards means ‘child abuse’ in Latin

Many words and phrases in other languages ​​are known to have different meanings, and many of the English vocabulary are derived from Latin origins.

Some social media users claim that the word ‘homework’ is spelled backwards, having a meaning in the Latin language.

In a February 27 Instagram post with nearly 18,000 likes, you find a screenshot of the Google search, “which is homework backwards.” The result is alleged to be: ‘So’ homework ‘that is spelled backwards is’ krowemoh ‘which is translated into Latin as child abuse.’

The same screenshot included in the Instagram meme also appears in several viral TikToks, and the hashtag #Krowemoh has more than 246,000 views on the platform.

The Google search snippet used by users to file the claim was taken from a viral on March 7, 2013 Post which recently reappeared on Twitter, where many users have done so shared similar versions of the claim.

“I knew this homework was just a way to abuse kids,” one Twitter user said wrote along with the claim on January 24th.

USA TODAY directed the Instagram user for comment.

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‘Krowemoh’ is not a Latin word

The word “krowemoh” does not exist in Latin. According to Google translate, child abuse in Latin is actually ‘puer abusus’.

A search for “krowemoh” on various online Latin and English dictionaries results in no matches.

The classical Latin alphabet consists of 23 characters, and the letter W is not one of them. In Latin, the letter U represented a W sound, only according to a vowel, according to Dictionary.com.

Different European languages ​​currently using the Latin alphabet do not use the letters K and W, and add extra letters with added diacritical marks or pairs of letters read as one sound, according to Britannica.

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The claim that ‘krowemoh’ is translated into Latin as ‘child abuse’ was added to Urbandictionary.com in January, an online dictionary of slang words and phrases.

The Urban Dictionary definition of “krowemoh” makes a joke of the word and kids have a lot of homework assignments.

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Our rating: false

The claim that ‘homework’ spelled backwards in Latin is ‘child abuse’ is FALSE, based on our research. “Krowemoh” does not exist in the Latin language and the letter W is not part of the Latin alphabet.

Our sources for fact checking:

  • Google Translate, March 3, English to Latin, ‘puer abusus’
  • Latin Dictionary, ‘Krowemoh’ search on March 3
  • Latin-Diction.net, visits on March 3 ‘Krowemoh’ searches Latin for English
  • Latin-English Dictionary, visit on March 3 ‘Krowemoh’ searches Latin for English
  • Dictionary.com, which on March 3 ‘What does the letter’ U ‘have to do with’ W ‘?
  • Britannica, access to March 3, Latin alphabet
  • Urban Dictionary, January 6, ‘Krowemoh’

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