This book has so much information, yet is presented in a way that even most high schoolers would be able to understand. I don't want to be misunderstood that I am saying this should be classified young adult non-fiction or anything. There was so much in there that I haven't ever heard or had forgotten. Just that the book is easy to read and is very interesting.

The only issue I had was when the word physiognomy was mentioned. It was included in a passage with other -logy words, each getting one or sentences. Physiognomy is the practice of using one's facial features to discern your character, and it has been used to defend racism. I can understand why she didn't include anything about racism in the book, because then it wouldn't be strictly an etymology book but would be bringing politics into it. I just know there is no way I couldn't have even typed the word with ranting about it. As you can tell from my review.

Amazing book for anyone who wants to learn more about our language. I loved learning about the origins of the word 'nostalgia' (look that up even if you don't read the book).

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the free Kindle book. My review is voluntarily given, and my opinions are my own.

A somewhat fun read!

I find etymology very interesting, so I enjoyed this book overall—it’s engaging and full of interesting titbits about the origins of words. The author does a great job presenting linguistic roots in a fun way (definitely not dry, as one might expect!).

However, since I speak a Romance language, I found that a lot of the content felt very familiar. Of course, that's more of a personal limitation than a fault of the book itself. For readers who are native English speakers or who haven’t studied Romance languages in depth, I think this book could be especially enlightening and a lot more novel.

I would consider this an interesting read if you're interested in the history of words and where language comes from. I liked the grouping of the categories. Sometimes i struggled with reading this but i put that down to be less interested in that category. This is one i could see being a good gifting book and a dip in and out book but i never felt the pressure to read this from cover to cover in one go.

If you’ve ever wondered why we park in a driveway, drive on a parkway, or pronounce "though," "thought," and "through" completely differently, *Useless Etymology* is here to scratch that linguistic itch—with humor, heart, and a ton of fascinating trivia.
This delightful dive into the oddball origins of English words proves that our language is anything but boring. From surprising Latin roots to the myths around Shakespeare’s supposed wordsmithing, the book untangles where English came from, why it’s such a beautiful mess, and how global cultures have shaped it.
With chapters full of bite-sized insights, historical side quests, and plenty of word-nerd charm, this book is perfect for anyone who loves language or just enjoys a good “Did you know…?” fact. It’s clever, approachable, and sneakily educational, the kind of nonfiction that makes you feel smarter without ever feeling like homework.
Whether you're a writer, a trivia buff, or someone who simply likes to know why “sinister” really means “left-handed,” *Useless Etymology* is a treasure trove worth exploring.

I absolutely loved this book. Full stop.

It's goofy and sarcastic and silly and cheesy and absolutely fantastically awesome.

If that’s not emphatically clear enough, I’ll say it again: I loved this book.

Jess Zafarris takes us through a near endless amount of assorted words, taking the reader through their etymologies, brilliantly weaving in laugh out loud commentary with an Oxford English Dictionary-style explorations.

But rather than dryly sharing a word’s etymology, Zafarris peppers in snarky yet pithy analysis. At other times, Zafarris makes fun of our own curiosity into the word or takes us on a tangential ride to other quite silly etymologies.

I loved every moment of it.

Five stars!

Thank you to John Murray Press and NetGalley for the advance copy. All opinions are my own.

This book is so fun. The sections are short and easy to read and covers basically everything you could want to know about words. As someone who always likes to look up the etymology of words (especially when learning other languages, it's so interesting to see how words that might not mean similar things now came from the same place), this was a super fun read for me.

This had a lot of interesting etymological information! It was all explained well and concisely, so it was easy to understand without feeling like the author was droning on at any point.

An amusing, fact-packed book! I thoroughly enjoyed learning the tidbits of information that this books contains. Yes, I may have also been randomly using it in my everyday conversations whenever I can as well!

For someone who is not into etymology, I quite enjoyed this book. The book feels like your friend is telling you about their knowledge in etymology and it does not make it boring. I also liked the structure of the book. As the author explains words another word comes up and it just makes it more exciting. I never imagined I would like a book about etymology.

Thanks to Netgalley, John Murray Press and Jess Zafarris for this copy.

Whether you're looking for the etymology of a specific word or just interested in etymology more widely this is a gem of a book to dip in and out of.

An entertaining look at various aspects of etymology and how the words we use have been formed and shaped over the years. I enjoyed this look into how words can change over time as well as where they come from in the beginning. I did find some sections a little long, but overall an enjoyable read.

I received an advanced copy from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this - what a fascinating look into words, their origins and interesting facts about how things came to be as they are. This was packed full of information

A fun, entertaining but also intellectual look at words, word origins and the English language. Pedants will probably have a field day trying to find mistakes, but the biggest learning is language is always changing and what you think is correct may actually be not.

This book is packed with fun information but I found its chatty style disorganized and hard to follow so I ended up not reading very much. DNF.

This book was full of fascinating facts, which I enjoyed, but there were almost too many facts for me to take in. I found that using the book as more of a reference worked best for me. For example, I love cooking and baking, so I was drawn to the chapter on "edible words" right away, and skipped to that chapter early on. I also really enjoyed the chapter on words from space. Again, the information was fascinating and enjoyable, but when I tried to read the book in chapter order, I became overwhelmed with all the information. Overall, 4 stars for the interesting content, but 3 stars for the way it was organized and presented--so 3.5 overall.

Thank you Netgalley for this arc
This is anything but useless.
Its not the type of book I usually read but I still had a really fun time .
5 stars
Full review on Goodreads

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. This was a fun and interesting read. I chuckled at a few of the more interesting words. For instance, a clatterfart is a person who talks a lot or likes to gossip. Socer came about from the British, and was used to differentiate between soccer and rugby. This would be a fun book for anyone who likes learning new words and ways to use them.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this advanced reader's copy and the opportunity to this early. Review has been posted on Waterstones and Goodreads.

As an etymology and trivia nerd, I knew I had to read Useless Etymology by Jess Zefarris. And I must say, doing so was an excellent idea.

Packed full of fun words and a history of global languages’ influence on English, Useless Etymology takes you from the basics of etymology through word play and words that have fallen out of use (but should be resurrected). The book rather loosely takes you from beginner etymology, with introduction to terms, to more advanced concepts. The flow is natural enough that you barely notice, though the word examples in chapters seems a bit random at times.

This is a very quick read, though I recommend not trying to read it straight through. It’s more like an appetizer book, where you read some before bed, or while you’re sitting in the parking lot waiting for your kids to get out of practice. It’s easy to jump in and out of, more like an extended listicle than a standard nonfiction book.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It entertained me, and will be something I go back to periodically, because I’m sure I didn’t retain everything. It should be on the gift list for every etymology nerd in your life.

Many thanks to John Murray Press and NetGalley for the eARC.

Thank you to Net Galley and John Murray Press for a free e-ARC of 'Useless Etymology: Offbeat Word Origins for Curious Minds' by Jess Zafarris.

'When you call something a "disaster," you are literally saying that whatever misfortune has occurred was foretold by the stars. The word "disaster" (dis+aster) literally means "ill-starred."'

This was a really unique and interesting read! I knew next to nothing about etymology (or the origins of words!) and I learnt a lot throughout this book. When I first started reading, I wondered how this would fill out (a whole book on etymology?!) but it delivers and then some. I would like to join the club of 'word nerds' pls! Zafarris takes you through so many interesting histories, perspectives and stories on words and how they have developed throughout times.

'A cur is a dog, and "fysting" meant "stinking" but literally "farting" or "breaking wind". Thus, to be feisty is to be like a stinky, farty little mutt dog. According to Sir Francis Grose's Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, which was published in 1811 and consists of heavily editorialized definitions, the meanings of the words "feist" and "dog" were conflated because high-class ladies would blame their gas on their little lap dogs.'

'Useless Etymology' varies from words that you wouldn't think are old but really are, like 'kudos' and 'legit' through to the word origins of different dog breeds (the latter was a big favourite of mine!)

'Arctic is from Ancient Greek arktos "bear" because the constellation Ursa Major, "the greater she-bear," also known as the Big Dipper, is always visible in the northern polar sky. Antarctic, therefore, literally means "opposite the bear." Serendipitously, polar bears reside at the North Pole but not the South Pole, making the Antarctic the land without bears in more ways than one.'

There were a few parts of 'Usless Etymology' that I found a bit harder to understand, but on the whole, Zafarris does a great job of presenting this topic in a really engaging, funny, and accessible way.