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Mark Forsyth

The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll Through the Hidden Connections of the English Language Paperback – October 2, 2012

by Mark Forsyth (Author)

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This perfect gift for readers, writers, and literature majors alike unearths the quirks of the English language. For example, do you know why a mortgage is literally a “death pledge”? Why guns have girls’ names? Why “salt” is related to “soldier”? Discover the answers to all of these etymological questions and more in this fascinating book for fans of of Eats, Shoots & Leaves.

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 connects to whaling in Nantucket; and what, precisely, the Rolling Stones have to do with gardening. This witty book will awake the linguist in you and illuminate the hidden meanings behind common words and phrases, tracing their evolution through all of their surprising paths throughout history.

Print length

304 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Berkley
Publication date

October 2, 2012
Dimensions

5.1 x 0.8 x 7.76 inches
ISBN-10

9780425260791
ISBN-13

978-0425260791
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“The stocking filler of the season...how else to describe a book that explains the connection between Dom Perignon and Mein Kampf.”--The Observer

“Crikey...this is addictive!”--The Times

“Mark Forsyth is clearly a man who knows his onions.”--Daily Telegraph

About the Author

Mark Forsyth is a writer, journalist, proofreader, ghostwriter, and pedant. He was given a copy of the Oxford English Dictionary as a christening present and has never looked back. He is the creator of The Inky Fool, a blog about words, phrases, grammar, rhetoric, and prose.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0425260798
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Berkley; Reprint edition (October 2, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780425260791
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0425260791
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.1 x 0.8 x 7.76 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #80,836 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #47 in English Dictionaries & Thesauruses
- #51 in Etymology (Books)
- #240 in Trivia (Books)

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1,782 ratings

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Mark Forsyth

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Mark Forsyth is the author of several books on language, including, most recently, The Illustrated Etymologicon. He has also written books about drunkenness, Christmas traditions, and bookshops. He studied English at Oxford University, and lives in Clerkenwell, London.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

1,782 global ratings

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one of me

For Weirdoes, as I am one

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 29, 2022

Verified Purchase

You will love it or hate it... love it, if you are possessed with language - to which I freely confess and hate it, if you are just expecting to read an amusing and relaxing leisure time book.

Amusing? Very much so, if you are predisposed. This book spirals from one word to the other in a dizzy speed, leaving you lightheaded and inspired at once.

If you belong to the above mentioned weirdoes, please never talk to your non-language-possessed friends about this lecture, if you want to keep them...

3 people found this helpful

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William L Hampton

This book is just marvelous.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 12, 2022

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Its meandering style and constant barrage of factoids make this book excellent for reading aloud—especially since listeners can leave and return and miss parts without feeling lost. Its style also make it easy to put down and pick up again, no matter how much or how little reading time you have to spare in a given session. Though you might find yourself engrossed and unable to put it down!

That said, there is so much to learn that I was tempted to stop after every page, so that I could digest and synthesize all the new, very accessible information and show off my new knowledge to friends—and random strangers, and neighbors on grocery lines. I have to assume the author, who seems to be of the same inclination, would approve,

4 people found this helpful

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Joshua

Indeed a "circular stroll"

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 10, 2018

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I started reading this several years ago and just got bogged down. I finally decided to take a running go at it and actually finish it. As an English language teacher and overall English geek, I find word origins fascinating. The author certainly does an amazing job developing connections throughout the English language doing so in pithy and humorous chapters. However, I would say that the book should be considered more as entertainment than education (though there were certainly several things that I learned along the way).

My only negative comment is that the author's "circular stroll" can get a reader turned around very easily. The reason I could not finish it the first time I attempted reading it was that I simply could not keep up with the author's logic. This is something that really has to be read in a fairly brief amount of time. It is not something that I would say can easily be put down and then picked up some time later. Overall, I enjoyed the book and think that most other word nerds would as well.

17 people found this helpful

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bracken

Love!!!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 24, 2021

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This is not only humorous and well written but very informative- especially for people who like to know weird, useless information like me. I had this on Audible already, but I liked it so well I bought the hard copy. I’ve passed it around to a couple of people and they absolutely loved it too. I’m getting his other ones soon. He must be a blast at parties!

One person found this helpful

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Jeffrey

A glorious journey behind the curtain look at the marvels and mysteries, and glories of English!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 16, 2020

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I purchased this book in audio format first, and loved it so much, I had to be able to read it. I then bought the Kindle version. Wanting a way to be able to flip around more quickly, add annotations and underlines of my own, I capitulated and purchased the physical book. Worth every penny! Amazing!

The author is an obvious genius and he uses his encyclopedic knowledge and sharp sense of humor to bring the hidden and colorful history of our amazing language to life. Irreverant, snarky, witty, biting and sublime; a fun romp through history, common culture and delicious arcana lurking behind every syllable! A masterpiece of scholarship and humor.

6 people found this helpful

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Book Lover

If you like words and word origins, this is the book for you!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 8, 2017

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If you like words and word origins, this is the book for you! Mark Forsyth has a clever way with words and a British sense of humor that keep this book from becoming just another dry reference book. I was fascinated to learn that the words "black" and "white" have the same root word (the Old German "blakke") which became "black" in English and "blanc" in French, which is the root of our word for "blank". The confusion started when the Old Germans couldn't decide whether burning wood turned black (like charcoal) or white (like ashes) so after a while they got bored with it and went to sack Rome. That is the sort of explanation you find in this book. There are some rather saucy words in there, too. He keeps it clean, but it is not for the ultra-prudish. That being said, I enjoyed this book so much that I couldn't put it down. I recommend it highly!

17 people found this helpful

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Michael Hodge

you'll be (pleasantly) annoying your spouse for days on end

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 15, 2013

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Due to the nature of this book, anyone nearby will be tapped on their shoulder and filled with interesting knowledge. While reading The Etymologicon, I just could not help myself, I had to share the amazing origins of words with my wife, parents, and at times, a random passerby.

Now a month after completing the book, I feel that I have forgotten the origin and piques of many words from within the text. But...I have come away with a new found awareness in the ways words can be and are actually constructed throughout the ages. This has aided me with my own learning (and teaching) of foreign languages. As a bilingual author, I have to create scenarios well designed for young readers to make word connections between two different languages. I had a lot of fun reading this book, and even feel that it was useful for me. Give it a go!

One person found this helpful

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Sissy

Good read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 10, 2022

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Well written. Language is assessible.

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Anne

Addictive reading

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 12, 2015

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There is no real logic to this book. It moves from one word or historical fact on to another in a seemingly random fashion following one connection or peripheral idea and then linking to another. This means that it is not a reference book but just an interesting collection of facts for those of us who love words. I found it extremely enjoyable and very interesting because the author often delves back to the origin of words and then shows how they link to others. He also gives us bits of historical facts about how words were originally used and then how they have changed to be used as we do today.

I wouldn't read this book all in one go because there is just so much information to take in. It is best consumed in chunks - at least that was my theory, but I found it almost impossible to put it down because I wanted to see his next link. This did mean that I read large sections and then couldn't really remember how things connected - but I did, very much, enjoy it when reading it.

You are not going to finish by knowing anything at all useful. You also won't know anything in depth - to do that you will have to read something more scholarly. What you do end up with is a very enjoyable read, wallowing in words and meanings and picking up little snippets of information about words, their meaning and their history as you go.

46 people found this helpful

Scar Trek

One of my favourite books of recent years

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 12, 2017

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An utter delight. Mark has an incredible way with language, and clearly enjoys giving you the punchline then working you backwards towards it. Example: He'll tell you that Starbucks Coffee is named after a muddy ditch in Yorkshire. Intrigued? In 2 or 3 brisk, witty pages he'll explain exactly how that is. And every chapter ends with some kind of fun gag or wordplay that leads neatly into the next. You can read this in little 5-minute chunks or really plough through it. I picked it up in paperback when it was released and read it several times over, then got a Kindle copy just to always have it on me for a bit of fun. Also great fun to confuse your friends with. They think you've gone mad when you tell them "pot luck" is all about Frenchmen and chickens.

24 people found this helpful

Matthew Haynes

An amazing book bursting with treats

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 17, 2015

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In another review I said that the Elements of Eloquence was quite possibly the best book about the English language I had read this year. I added the caveat that I was yet to read The Etymologicon. The predictive caveat now seems wholly justified as The Etymologicon is indeed the best book about the English language I have read this year.

Reading it is like having the most interesting conversation you can imagine with one of the elves from the QI team (and in fact I think some of the content of the BBC show has been determined from reading this book). The origin of words, phrases and place names is something that has always fascinated me and so this book was a treat at every turn of the page.

Mark Forsyth is not only a learned etymologist he is also in possession of a very droll sense of humour and had this book been written by someone else it might not have been the amusing creation it is. Forsyth could perhaps make the driest of subjects fascinating, but given that I already possess a predilection for English the comic turns of his circular stroll through the concealed connections of the language simply represent icing on a cake already bursting with the tastiest of ingredients.

I am not going to waffle on about all the word origins he explains but if I remember half of what was in the book I will have improved my knowledge significantly in the act of reading The Etymologicon and have ammunition aplenty when I think a conversation may warrant a ‘did you know…’ In fact I have already regaled my friends with tales of the origins of buffs, slaves, soldiers, cheques, and the company name Shell by way of an endorsement of Forsyth’s books.

Of all the books I may have recommended this year, I think this is my recommendation of the year. I was given The Horologicon which will complete the ‘trilogy’ and I’ll let you know whether it is as good as the other two some time in the new year. I also received four Philip K Dick books and so as expected my bookshelves are positively bowing under the weight of all the reading I have to look forward to.

12 people found this helpful

Duncerman

This is a marvelous interesting and fun book.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 22, 2022

Verified Purchase

The writer is so knowledgable witty and funny. If you love words and their origins this book is a must. Its no wonder its now a hardback as it deserves to be in a fine collection. Ive read and listened to it several times.

One person found this helpful

K. Petersen

In the Beginning was the Word - and it is Still Going Strong!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 20, 2012

Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )Verified Purchase

I have this book on my Kindle and I heard the original BBC series so; why do I feel the need to own it as an audio book too?

If you have yet to come across the Etymologicon, then you have a real treat awaiting you. Get it NOW! It doesn't matter whether it be in the original paper form, the e-book or this audio book - they're all great. The Etymologicon describes itself as, "a circular stroll through the hidden connections of the English language". Sounds a bit grand, but the reality is a fun book that is packed with fascinating stories of the origins, and unexpected links, between English words. It started life as the Inky Fool blog, created by Mark Forsyth and evolved into a humorous, but educational, tome.

Each chapter follows a different strand through our beloved language and, whilst I am content to acknowledge my ignorance, I will not believe any of you who tells me that they knew all the intricate links in any chapter - and that includes aficionados, such as myself, who have read and heard the book on many occasions!

This audio version does not scrimp, it covers the complete book on 6 CD's. I do wonder about some audio books; when you've listened once to a whodunnit, will you want to listen again? On the other hand, the Etymologicon is so packed with information that one can read it, several times and listen to the disc copy on multiple occasions and STILL not glean all the information that Mr Forsyth offers. If one is ever invited to a dinner party, given by a superior friend, then put part of this collection on your car's media player. I guarantee that, when you arrive, you will have a whole bunch of interesting facts to work into your conversation: indeed, I have invented the game of how many such facts one can introduce in a single evening (double points are awarded for the most esoteric!) Three players, in the know, can completely banjax a condescending host, with in minutes - try it!

One person found this helpful

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