Useless Etymology turned out to be an unexpected gem! Exploring the origins of words has always intrigued me, but it’s rare to find a take on the subject that feels this lively. The author blends sharp insights with humor, making each discovery feel fresh and exciting. A fantastic read for anyone who enjoys uncovering hidden stories in everyday language!

An absolute treat of a book.

Absolutely rammed with fascinating titbits and facts. There are far too many for me to list but personal favourites included the petty reasons behind the silent 'b' in words like debt, how women and female are NOT derived from man and male; and how the word electricity can be traced back to amber - but you'll have to read the book itself to find out how!

Despite being page after page of information it is presented in an engaging, well written way.

I won't remember everything I read in it, but then that isn't the point. This is a book to be enjoyed and then referred back to, time and time again. And while reading through it, you get to be 'that' friend, gleefully sharing the latest fact you've learnt.

I am looking forward to picking up a physical copy when it comes out, as well as tracking down the author's previous works.

I love etimology and this book was very attractive to me! I found it a bit slow at times - I think that's pretty much inevitable with a book like this - but overall very informative and I would recommend it to anyone interested in the topic! One thing about it I didn't like that much was the fact that many of the words I already new, just because as a native Spanish and Italian speaker Latin roots are pretty obvious to me, but I think it's very objectively NOT the book's fault, so that didn't really affect my rating.

This was a really fun book of words. I enjoyed it a lot, etymology is something that is super interesting to me.

I deducted from the title and cover that this book would be fun, but I didn’t realize how much I would love it! Etymology has been something that is interesting to me, but many educational materials are dry. Zafarris has the best writing style - drawing a natural connection among words and adding cultural references and humor. I learned so much, and shared fun facts with friends I think this book would entertain anyone!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

What an utterly fabulous book. As someone who regularly has to pause in conversations (and in teaching lessons) if I realise I don’t know the etymology of a word, this is absolutely the book for me. I was hooked even from the introduction. I can’t wait to add some of the gems learnt here into my lessons. A treasure trove of fascinating information - it will be my gift to all my fellow word-lovers this year!