No, homework spelled backwards doesn’t mean child abuse in Latin

Many people have an understandable dislike towards homework, but an unfounded - and now disproven - claim online is taking it to the extreme.

An idea has spread on social media that ‘homework’ backwards (‘krowemoh’) is the Latin word for ‘child abuse’ - an idea which has since been debunked by the fact-checking website Snopes.

In an article explaining the claim, Snopes’ Alex Kasprak writes: “The word ‘krowemoh’ does not exist in the Latin language. In fact, not even the character ‘W’ existed in Latin, whose alphabet contained 23 characters. 

“The character we now know as ‘W’ did not see widespread use until the 1500s, well after Latin-speaking humans were creating new words in that language.

“All of this is to say that ‘krowemoh’ is not a word and it certainly does not mean “child abuse” in Latin or any other language we are aware of.”

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The website also states that the myth has been around online “since at least March 2013”, and it appears as though it is still circulating online eight years later:

If anything, the spreading of false information like this suggests people haven’t done their homework – at least not when it comes to Latin.