Useless Etymology

Offbeat Word Origins for Curious Minds

Jess Zafarris

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Hardback

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English

John Murray Publishers Ltd
20 January 2026

Film, TV & Radio; linguistics; Historical & comparative linguistics

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.

By: Jess Zafarris
Imprint: John Murray Publishers Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 196mm, Width: 136mm, Spine: 32mm
Weight: 384g
ISBN: 9781399809184
ISBN 10: 1399809180
Pages: 336
Publication Date: 20 January 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Jess Zafarris is the author of the etymology books Words From Hell (Chambers, 2023) and Once Upon a Word (Rockridge Press 2020). Jess is an educational content creator and blogger who focuses on etymology and word-history-focused deep dives and explanations on her TikTok channel @jesszafarris and website uselessetymology.com. She also co-hosts the Words Unravelled podcast. She has appeared on podcasts including Dear Hank and John, Social Pros, Failing Writers, Yeah That's Probably an Ad, and Author2Author. Previously a content and engagement director, journalist, editor, and social media strategist responsible for developing multimedia content for brands, publishers and media outlets such as Adweek, Ragan Communications, Writer's Digest, and Script, Jess also contributed to the tabletop game League of the Lexicon and the Writer's Digest Daily Calendar 2020, and both her master's and undergraduate degrees focused on the development of English through literature, as well as journalism, anthropology and language studies.