The Etymologicon, Mark Forsyth
The Etymologicon, Mark Forsyth
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The Etymologicon
A Circular Stroll Through the Hidden Connections of the English Language

Author: Mark Forsyth

Narrator: Don Hagen

Unabridged: 7 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Ascent Audio

Published: 04/01/2014

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included

Synopsis

Do you know why…

…a mortgage is literally a death pledge? …why guns have girls’ names? …why salt is related to soldier?

You’re about to find out…

The Etymologicon (e-t?-‘mä-lä-ji-kän) is:
*Witty (wi-te\): Full of clever humor
*Erudite (er-?-dit): Showing knowledge
*Ribald (ri-b?ld): Crude, offensive

The Etymologicon is a completely unauthorized guide to the strange underpinnings of the English language. It explains: how you get from “gruntled” to “disgruntled”; why you are absolutely right to believe that your meager salary barely covers “money for salt”; how the biggest chain of coffee shops in the world (hint: Seattle) connects to whaling in Nantucket; and what precisely the Rolling Stones have to do with gardening.

About Mark Forsyth

Born in London in 1977, Mark Forsyth (a.k.a The Inky Fool) was given a copy of the Oxford English Dictionary as a christening present and has never looked back. His book The Etymologicon was a Sunday Times Number One Bestseller and his TED Talk "What's a snollygoster?" has had more than half a million views. He has also written a specially commissioned essay "The Unknown Unknown" for Independent Booksellers Week and the introduction for the new edition of the Collins English Dictionary. He lives in London with his dictionaries, and blogs at blog.inkyfool.com.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Bill on March 09, 2020

This is an entertaining survey of etymological examples, written in a breezy style, and constructed according to a clever rule: there is an etymological link between every chapter and the next, and the last chapter links to the first. Hence the title "a circular stroll." It is also a useful bathroom......more

Goodreads review by Clouds on July 27, 2015

A quite wonderful little book. This got onto my long-list because of these glowing reviews from James, Nikki and Paul. As James says:There can be few better recommendations for any book than that you continuously feel the need to read excepts out to those around you, no matter what they are doing (......more

Goodreads review by Katie on January 19, 2020

I really enjoyed this one - a fun and fascinating reading. Entirely delightful.......more

Goodreads review by Conor on August 29, 2017

This was amazing. Granted, I'm a word nerd, but this was really paced and organized in the most charming way, while still teaching me so much about common phrases and sayings. Forsyth is really clever and witty, and erudite on top of it all. It's a rare book that will make me chuckle and also teach......more

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