Review: The etymologicon by Mark Forsyth

Here we are again and this time I want to show you a place where I go often that is not a city, a town nor a little paradise in nature. Here it is:

Place: Café de Autor, Linares (Spain)

Date: May, 2017

Yes, it's just a coffee shop, but for writers these are the most inspiring places. For some reason, we simply love to sit in a cafe and write as we observe everything around us. I run a book club in English in this coffee shop (if you feel like it and live nearby, you can come join us, you'll have fun, I promise!) and from that, you might get that I'm a language enthousiastic. That takes me to the book I'll be reviewing today.

Title: The etymologicon
Author: Mark Forsyth
Genre: Non fiction

Blurb: What is the actual connection between disgruntled and gruntled? What links church organs to organised crime, California to the Caliphate, or brackets to codpieces? The Etymologicon springs from Mark Forsyth's Inky Fool blog on the strange connections between words. It's an occasionally ribald, frequently witty and unerringly erudite guided tour of the secret labyrinth that lurks beneath the English language, taking in monks and monkeys, film buffs and buffaloes, and explaining precisely what the Rolling Stones have to do with gardening.

Format: Ebook





The book

Since this is a non fiction book, I cannot talk about a story per se, but this book does have a story, or more accurately, a lot of them. It explains the origin of many of the most common English words and expressions by using a story that connects to the next word and the story behind it, and so on. The author intertwines the origin of a word with the origin of the next one in a fantastic and entertaining way.

I'm in love with languages and how they were formed so I enjoyed every bit of this book, but for those of you who are thinking "are you kidding me? a book on languages? Boring!", I'll let you know that this is not a book addressed to language experts. It's for everyone with a bit of curiosity, and I guarantee you'll be surprised by some of the stories.

The style

This is my favourite part. Mark Forsyth is obviously an expert in the field of etymology but he's also fun to read. He writes in a way that mixes interesting technical terms and explanations with witty and hilarious comments that makes you want to keep devouring chapter after chapter. (It took me a weekend to finish this book!).

My opinion

I simply loved this book. I couldn't say it better than that. The only "bad" thing I'd have to say about it is I wish I had a good memory to remember everything I learned from this book. I could see myself being as annoying as Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory with fun facts on words in every meeting with family and friends!