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Into the Words
An Etymologist's Field Guide to Plants, Animals, and Nature
Brief Description
Which animal holds the record for having the most common names? When and why did we stop calling giraffes "camel-leopards"? Do mushrooms have anything to do with mush or rooms? Why are dandelions named after lions' teeth? How should you really pluralise "octopus"? Find out how...
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Into the Words
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See moreSet out on a charming, entertaining, quirky, and utterly adventurous romp through the natural word. This latest book by word nerd, wildlife lover, and social media sensation Jess Zafarris hits the trail with an enthusiastically educational and curious look at the names of the creatures and features that make Planet Earth our home.
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Description
Which animal holds the record for having the most common names?
When and why did we stop calling giraffes "camel-leopards"?
Do mushrooms have anything to do with mush or rooms?
Why are dandelions named after lions' teeth?
How should you really pluralise "octopus"?
Find out how and why raccoons are named after their hands, squirrels after their tails, and olives after their oil. Discover why "dog" is an etymological mystery and "bear" contains a hair-raising horror story.
Follow trails of word history in the etymological excursion that is Into the Words. This book puts the fun in fungi, leaves language lovers contemplating the forest for its trees, and reveals the wonderful stories hiding in our words for birds, beasts, insects, flowers, soil, and everything in between.
Featuring the origins of the names of different organisms, this book will captivate anyone who revels in both the glorious chaos and logic of the English language and the beauty and majesty of everything that lives on planet Earth.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781399821223
Publisher: John Murray Press
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 05 November 2026
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: John Murray Publishers Ltd
Illustration: B&W line drawings
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 132.0mm
Height: 204.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 256
About the Author
Jess Zafarris is the author of the etymology books Words From Hell, Useless Etymology (Chambers) 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.
Her master's and undergraduate degrees focused on the development of English through literature, as well as journalism, anthropology and language studies. She contributed to the tabletop game League of the Lexicon and the Writer's Digest Daily Calendar 2020. She has appeared on podcasts including Dear Hank and John, Social Pros, Failing Writers, Yeah That's Probably an Ad, and Author2Author. By day, Jess is a content and engagement director, journalist, editor, and social media strategist responsible for developing multimedia content for brands, publishers and media outlets such as Adweek, Ragan Communications, Writer's Digest, and Script.Also by Jess Zafarris
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