JESS ZAFARRIS' PAGE: USELESS ETYMOLOGY: Offbeat Word Origins for Curious Minds, & WORDS FROM HELL: Unearthing the Darkest Secrets of English Etymology

USELESS ETYMOLOGY: Offbeat Word Origins for Curious Minds
JESS ZAFARRIS
Chambers (non-affiliate Bookshop.org link)
$10.99 ebook, preorder for delivery tomorrow

Rating: 5* of five

The Publisher Says: Did you know that an "astronaut" is literally a "star sailor," that a thesaurus is, in fact, a "treasure trove" of words, and that someone who is "sinister" is actually just "left-handed"?

Have you ever wondered why English isn't considered a Romance language if 60% of our words are Latin-derived?

Did Shakespeare really invent 1,700 words, and if not, why the heck do we say that he did?

Why is the English language stuffed with so many synonyms?

Let's be real: English can seem pretty bonkers. And, well, sometimes it is. But through thorough thought and a pinch of curiosity, method can be found within the madness of our modern tongue-even within the disparate pronunciation of the words "through," "thorough," and "thought."

Derived from Germanic, Romance, Hellenic, Semitic, African and Native American languages, English contains multitudes. It has been (and continues to be) transformed by war and conquest, art and literature, science and technology, love and hate, wit and whim.

Useless Etymology takes readers on a time-traveling adventure to unlock the beauty, wonder, and absurdity within our everyday words, how they came to be, and the unexpected ways their origins weave a global, cross-cultural labyrinth of meaning.

Filled with fun facts and delightful discoveries, this is an enlightening read for anyone who wants to know more about why the English language works the way that it does.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: I hope all y'all will watch this Butter no Parsnips YouTube interview with Author Zafarris: https://youtu.be/tEzEk5S0vJ0?feature=shared and then subscribe to their show as well as Jess and Rob's wonderfully weird podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@WordsUnravelled

The idea of etymology is custom-designed by a benevolent divinity to deliver me huge honkin' blasts of dopamine. This iteration of a browser's book does it again. The sheer pleasure for me furtling through English's cupboards in search of something oddly shaped and weird-sounding...it is beyond the extent of my vocabulary even as turbocharged by this book to express it. Maybe a grawlix will help: #^&^!*@#

A word for a thing that takes the place of words unsayable is the true spirit-animal of the English language, that mugger of other cultures and languages. English is as shameless as a magpie, grabbing whatever shiny things it wants wherever they come from; or else English speakers invent them, there being a need thus an opening for English's anarchic, energetic absence of control to effloresce into a new shape. Some are nonce words, some neologisms, some start as one and become the other.

Anyone you know who loves to "well, actually" you is the audience for this book. Birthday, Yuletide, Father's Day, it's gonna make a hit. The serious etymologists are likely to enjoy the tone; the casual browsers will get chuckles as well as trivia; the pub quiz/trivia players should bee thrilled to have a new, authoritative source.

Get one for yourself, too, so you don't feel left out as the chuckles turn to cackles.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

WORDS FROM HELL: Unearthing the Darkest Secrets of English Etymology
JESS ZAFARRIS
Chambers (non-affiliate Bookshop.org link)
$1.99 ebook, available now

Rating: 5* of five

The Publisher Says: The English language is where words go to be tortured and mutilated into unrecognizable shadows of their former selves. It's where Latin, Greek, and Germanic roots are shredded apart and stitched unceremoniously back together with misunderstood snippets of languages snatched from the wreckage of conquest and colonialism. It wreaks merciless havoc upon grammar and spelling. It turns clinical terms into insults and children's tales into filthy euphemisms.

With an emphasis on understanding where the foulest words in the English language came from-and the disgusting and hilarious histories behind them-this book demonstrates the true filth of our everyday words. But this book is more than just a list of vulgar words and salacious slang. It's a thoughtful analysis of why we deem words as being inappropriate as well as revealing 'good words' that have surprisingly naughty origins.

Dirty-minded word nerds and lewd linguistics lovers will derive unadulterated pleasure in leering at the origins of swear words, sexual lingo, inappropriate idioms, violent vocabulary, and terminology for bodily functions—not to mention the unexpectedly foul origins of words you thought were perfectly innocent. If it's inappropriate, stomach-churning, uncomfortable, or offensive, this book reaches into the dark recesses of history and exposes them for all to see.

True to the Chambers brand, this book combines humour, scholarly research and a beautiful design. It is a book to enjoy, collect and revisit time and time again.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: If you can't instantly see the appeal of this book, it is not for you.

Also, why the fuck is your prissy, pursey-mouthed self reading my reviews?