Antoine Thomas first suggested in 1896 that Fr. lingue ‘ling, Lota molva (a fish)’ is of Germanic origin. His discussion of the word, published first in Romania and repeated shortly thereafter in Thomas’ Essais de philologie française, was a sober, concise, but thorough treatment which included all pertinent evidence that has been published on the subject. Later discussions have added nothing. They have either repeated fragments of the evidence cited by Thomas, usually omitting portions of the remainder which tended to balance those they used, or have adduced material which is irrelevant. Virtually nothing will be added here but evidence which would be irrelevant were it not necessary to refute erroneous proposals made later. Thomas' cautious conclusions were hardly more specific than indicated above. He stated that the French word must have been borrowed from Germanic, but could have been taken from English, Flemish, Dutch, or one of the Scandinavian languages. This proposal is clearly preferable to the only explanation previously suggested, derivation from Lat. lingua ‘tongue’ because of the physical appearance of the fish; as far as it goes, it has apparently been accepted without question. The subsequent history of the etymology, however, has been one of confusion and inaccuracy, with the result that its present state constitutes a regression from that at the time of Thomas' article.