Book Talk: Book Talk: Useless Etymology: Offbeat Word Origins for Curious Minds with Jess Zafarris

Name: Book Talk: Book Talk: Useless Etymology: Offbeat Word Origins for Curious Minds with Jess Zafarris
Start: 2026-03-11T19:00:00-05:00
Location: 5501 N Lamar Blvd, Ste A105, Austin, TX, United States, Texas 78751

Schedule

Wed, 11 Mar, 2026 at 07:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

5501 N Lamar Blvd, Ste A105, Austin, TX, United States, Texas 78751 | Austin, TX

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"--
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.