The Wordspotter's Guide: A Jaunt Through Our Etymological Past

by Olivia Swarthout

Olivia Swarthout, creator of the viral sensation Weird Medieval Guys, turns her idiosyncratic and humorous eye to the fascinating roots of the English language. Here, she introduces readers to wordspotting, a hobby for those who love words and their peculiarities, origins and histories.

From the seemingly modern 'unfriend' - which dates back to the seventeenth century - to the revelation that the leotard was named after the inventor of the trapeze, The Wordspotter's Guide brims with fascinating linguistic tidbits alongside advice and techniques for detecting the bizarre and unlikely commonalities between words and their meanings.

An invitation to pay better attention to words and their stories, this etymological romp will bring out the wordspotter in everyone.

Genres: Nonfiction, Language, Linguistics, History

336 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication November 10, 2026

Reviews

[Lizzie S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! The Wordspotter's Guide: A Jaunt Through Our Etymological Past was a fascinating look at the origin of many of the words we use every day!

P.S. - Did you know the (trademarked) word Escalator came before the verb To Escalate??? So cool.

Thanks so much to Olivia Swarthout and Dutton for this ARC through NetGalley. The Wordspotter's Guide will be available November 10th, 2026.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley for this digital ARC!
While I would actually rate my enjoyment level while reading this, as a two…I recognize the intense amount of effort and knowledge that go into writing a book of this nature.
At first I was charmed by the whimsical nature of this writing style. You are a wordspotter on a journey through the etymological past - discovering your surroundings and the words that make them up! Absolutely fun! But as the chapters went by, I was gleaning less and less information and more and more fluff. I do think I could have enjoyed this more if I was listening to the audiobook version. However, this physical book left me wanting more true definitions and word breakdowns - perhaps more like a textbook or glossary (I know. How boring of me!). Due to this desire, the annex and glossary in the book ended up being more enjoyable to me than the aforementioned “wordspotter journey”.

A worthy endeavor and well researched I’m sure, just not the format for me!

[Keely Lavelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, creative introduction to the English language, The Wordspotter's Guide is the perfect book for beginner etymologists, language enthusiasts, and folks who just want a unique read.

The format of the novel piqued my interest, flowing from one's self all the way to the cosmos. Readers learn about basic etymology and explore everything from the easy-to-see to the crazy and even humorous semantic changes.

I had a wonderful time following the history, especially relating to animal names. Some of them fell into the "huh?!?!" category!

I highly recommend this book to anyone even remotely interested in language. You end this novel with an understanding of etymology and a slew of fun facts for your next get-together. Enjoy!

This is my own opinion. Thank you to Dutton/Plume and NetGalley for the ARC.

[Bee Ostrowsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re going to a cocktail party with a talkative fan of linguistics, you may as well arm yourself with this collection of etymological and historical anecdotes. When asked “did you know...?” you will probably be able to say “I did know that! And did you know [related fact]?” Whether this achieves your conversational aims is left as an exercise for the reader.

[Kimberly Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's full of the random bits of information that I crave. There's a lot of tongue in cheek humor. It's definitely not a fully serious reference book. It was fun for me.