[etep]

The edit distance form work to zork is 1.

For this, and because of tab completions (perhaps tab completions post-date zork, but nonetheless) I find the work:zork story compelling. I have used the first letter is replaced by "z" trick many times (z-tab, done!), and that pre-dated any contemplation of the zork mystery.

[big85]

Ah, but there are plenty of folk etymologies which, although they make a lot of logical sense, aren't true.

[ashenke]

Also, W and Z are switched in the AZERTY keyboard. So maybe someone mistyped work on the wrong layout??

[duskwuff]

This is mentioned in the article "A Note on the Word 'Zork'", linked right above the 'pterodactyl chopper':

https://web.archive.org/web/20100112110305/https://nickm.com...

[jasonwatkinspdx]

Certainly sounds plausible. Most of the time the first thing I do after I log in to a terminal is "cd work." And if I blundered that on a french keyboard at some point it might pop into my head as a funny thing to name a project.

[Cpoll]

I can't imagine there were lots of AZERTY keyboards kicking around MIT?

[consp]

Maybe a French or Canadian person typed it wrong often and complained about the weird location of the w. Don't think it is the reason but there are more than one way to explain there lines of thought.

[philistine]

No québécois would be caught dead with an azerty layout.

[NopIdoN]

xywwy