Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Useless Etymology: Offbeat Word Origins for Curious Minds

Useless Etymology: Offbeat Word Origins for Curious Minds

Zafarris, Jess

Hardcover

EtymologyGeneral Art

Publisher Price: $19.99

ISBN10: 1399809180
ISBN13: 9781399809184
Publisher: Chambers
Published: Oct 7 2025
Pages: 336
Weight: 0.85
Height: 1.30 Width: 5.30 Depth: 7.90
Language: English
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.

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