Words, Words, and More Words!

Zafarris, Jess.  Useless Etymology: Offbeat Word Origins for Curious Minds.   Philadelphia: John 

          Murray Press, 2025.  ISBN: 9781399809184

 

 

Are you a word nerd?  Do you enjoy learning new words or maybe finding out the meanings of old words and then using them in your conversations?  If so, Jess Zafarris's Useless Etymology could be a book for you!  Inside this tome you will find word origins for all types of words for your perusal! 

 

Jess Zafarris divides the book into three sections.  Part 1 covers the oddities of English etymology in 6 chapters - delving into words about perspective, time, logic and illogic, debunking word origin myths, folk etymology, and wordatorium.  Part 2 dives into the twists and turns that may surprise and delight when looking into the origins of everyday words in 10 chapters.  This section is the meat of the book with chapters that look at how meanings of words change over time, eponymous words, literary and rhetorical terms, words used in making books, words that have animals hidden in them, edible terms to snack on, the language of colors, of science, of space, and of time.  Part 3 wanders around whimsical and humorous words as the author presents words that play and enchant in 6 chapters.  Here you will find silly words or words with silly origins, word games, word gaffes, strange origin stories, antiquated words you might like to use and finally the longest words you never knew!

 

So, if you have time to spare and want to use that time exploring word origins, pick up Jess Zafarris's Useless Etymology and put your curiosity to work!