The story
- Ottoman Turkish · borrowed fromإسكندرون
- English todayScandaroon
From variant forms of Ottoman Turkish إسكندرون (İskenderūn) under influence from English -oon. Compare Stambul and Stamboul for Istanbul. In reference to the pigeons, supposedly derived from the use of the pigeon to carry messages from the English factory at Iskanderun to Aleppo upon the arrival of new ships. In reference to swindlers, presumably under the influence of scandal and cognates and -oon. Doublet of Alexandria, Alexandretta, Iskenderun, and Kandahar.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.