When I wake up I usually find some interesting remains in my mind.  It's as if the brain forgot to flush the cache when I awake.  This morning it was the thought that the word 'destroy' originated from the fall of Troy.  So to destroy is to suffer the same fate as the city of Troy did.

Is this true?  Dictionaries I looked up didn't list Troy as the origin of the word.  Searching Google returns many pages that mention the city of Troy and the word destory together yet none seems to suggest there there might be a closer relationship between the word and the name.

Seems unlikely though.  The concept of destruction has a long history and, while the destruction of Troy took place long time ago, use of the word 'destroy' to mean 'do the same as what was done to Troy' would require a lot of story telling.

A: Destroy that city by nightfall!
B: Do what?
A: Destroy!  Turn it into rubble like Troy.
B: Troy?  What's that?
A: *sigh* You never heard about Troy?  Giant Horse?
B: Uh, no.  Why don't you tell us?

More likely, the word is related to the word 'destruction', removal of structures, but it's fun to play with words anyway.