Useless Etymology: Offbeat Word Origins for Curious Minds by Jess Zafarris: REVIEW

Synopsis

Proud word nerd Jess Zafarris takes us on a fun ride through the origins and evolutions of everyday English words and phrases.

My Review

I’ve had SO much fun with this book. So much word-nerdery! So many fascinating factlets about language! Don’t listen to the title. Language resources can still be useful even if they’re written in a fun way rather than drily academic.

A few of my favourite factlets

I had no idea that Alexander Graham Bell wanted “Ahoy” to be the standard greeting upon answering a telephone, nor that “Hello” really wasn’t used much as a greeting before phones. I also don’t think I knew that English has a silent “b” in several words simply because of the animosity between the English and the French, haha! And I definitely didn’t know that every single use in English of the word “check” can be traced back to chess. That blows my mind!

Conclusion

As someone who has studied linguistics and taken many an English course, I did know quite a lot of the information presented in this book, but I’d never seen it presented with so much humour and unadulterated enjoyment. And yet there was plenty of new-to-me information to keep me mind-blown and thirsty for more. It’s an absolute pleasure to read. I loved every second of it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and John Murray Press for providing this ARC for review consideration. Publication day has already been and gone, so you can buy Useless Etymology here on Bookshop.org*, or look for it wherever you get books.
*As an affiliate, I’ll receive a small commission from any purchase made through this link.