The Meaning of bōmolokhos in Classical Attic

The bōmolokhos (buffoon, fool) has received misguided attention in comic scholarship due to a misunderstanding of Pherecrates fr. 150 KA. The second-century c.e. Harpocration (who cites the line) considers this passage to consist of a genuine etymology, and his view has gone roughly unchallenged ever since. But this is a mistake: the etymology which Pherecrates provides is not a legitimate one but rather a typical case of comic wordplay.