: Your demons likely wouldn't be speaking English either. Yet you write your story in English, not because the demons speak English, but because the readers do. A lot of English words stem from

@Bryan361

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Your demons likely wouldn't be speaking English either. Yet you write your story in English, not because the demons speak English, but because the readers do.

A lot of English words stem from something that ties into human history. Fictional worlds don't always have to reinvent their history.

In a world where humans never existed, what would you call someone's Achilles heel? After all, they wouldn't know Achilles.
If you're describing the rule of Russia, you would call them a tsar. But "tsar" stems from "Caesar" (as does the German "kaiser" and the Dutch "keizer"). So in an alternate reality where the Roman empire never existed (or where Caesar specifically died young before his fame), you wouldn't be able to call anyone a tsar.

When you say "tiptoe", you mean "tiptoe" the word, regardless of whether it stems from "toe" or not.

In a story of anthropomorphized animals, an eagle who knows carpentry is a handyman, not a talonybird.
A dolphin guitarist knows how to finger chords, not how to flipper chords.
A T-Rex will still find this difficult puzzle a headscratcher, even if his arms can't reach.

Viewers/readers can (and generally do) assume that the language of the movie/book is a translation through the author's eyes. The words chosen are intended for the viewer/reader's understanding. That counts double for narration as opposed to direct quotes.

That being said, you can of course change the word for comical or whimsical effect. That's a perfectly valid option, but I wouldn't expect this to happen in a serious drama, only in lighthearted stories.

The key point is that you are not required to change the word just because some part of the word's etymology isn't fully accurate.

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