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Strange to Say: Etymology as Serious Entertainment
"[Warren's] curiosity and embrace of the unpredictable, as well as her delight in both the archaic and the homespun, animate Strange to Say, a tour of English that savors the language's mutability."―Wall Street Journal
"A great read for those who appreciate seeing the whimsy in words, as Warren remarkably achieves etymological entertainment."―Booklist
“You can’t stop language, because when all’s said and done is never.”
In her witty account of the origins of many English words and expressions, Deborah Warren educates as she entertains―and entertain she does, leading her readers through the amazing labyrinthian history of related words. “Language,” she writes, “is all about mutation.”
Read here about the first meanings of common words and phrases, including dessert, vodka, lunatic, tulip, dollar, bikini, peeping tom, peter out, and devil’s advocate. A former Latin teacher, Warren is a gifted poet and a writer of great playfulness. Strange to Say is a cornucopia of joyful learning and laughter.
Did you know…
Lord Cardigan was a British aristocrat and military man known for the sweater jackets he sported.
A lying lawyer might pull the wool over a judge’s eyes—yank his wig down across his face.
In the original tale of Cinderella, her slippers were made of vair (“fur”)—which in the orally-told story mistakenly turned into the homonym verre (“glass”).
Like laundry, lavender evolved from Italian lavanderia, “things to be washed.” The plant was used as a clothes freshener. It smells better than, say, the misspelled Downy Unstopable with the ad that touts its “feisty freshness,” unaware that feisty evolved from Middle English fisten—fart.
"A great read for those who appreciate seeing the whimsy in words, as Warren remarkably achieves etymological entertainment."―Booklist
“You can’t stop language, because when all’s said and done is never.”
In her witty account of the origins of many English words and expressions, Deborah Warren educates as she entertains―and entertain she does, leading her readers through the amazing labyrinthian history of related words. “Language,” she writes, “is all about mutation.”
Read here about the first meanings of common words and phrases, including dessert, vodka, lunatic, tulip, dollar, bikini, peeping tom, peter out, and devil’s advocate. A former Latin teacher, Warren is a gifted poet and a writer of great playfulness. Strange to Say is a cornucopia of joyful learning and laughter.
Did you know…
Lord Cardigan was a British aristocrat and military man known for the sweater jackets he sported.
A lying lawyer might pull the wool over a judge’s eyes—yank his wig down across his face.
In the original tale of Cinderella, her slippers were made of vair (“fur”)—which in the orally-told story mistakenly turned into the homonym verre (“glass”).
Like laundry, lavender evolved from Italian lavanderia, “things to be washed.” The plant was used as a clothes freshener. It smells better than, say, the misspelled Downy Unstopable with the ad that touts its “feisty freshness,” unaware that feisty evolved from Middle English fisten—fart.
- GenresNonfictionLanguage
194 pages, Paperback
Published August 17, 2021
15 people are currently reading
92 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
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July 5, 2021Received advanced copy for writing a review for Booklist!
March 23, 2023
Fun!
This book was a fun, quick read. I found it very entertaining and interesting. I would recommend reading this book.
This book was a fun, quick read. I found it very entertaining and interesting. I would recommend reading this book.
December 5, 2025
Fast-paced and full of fun factoids, but weirdly haphazard, turning on a dime without much (any) segue.
March 2, 2022
Truly entertaining etymology. You can start on any page. A work to be consumed over and over. The writing is poetic and comes at you like a stream of consciousness, just surf the wave and enjoy. It is like being seated next to the most fascinating, well-caffeinated word lover at the party.
I’ve read a few books about word origins and I follow some podcasts about words. I learned something new on every page of this book.
What I learned: Jeep is a contraction of G.P. The Dutch term for doughnut is olykoek (oil-cake). The antibiotic bacitracin is named after the bacilli of a woman named Margaret Treacy. There is an equine strain of pox that gave cavalry immunity to small pox. Tarantulas are named after Taranto Italy. A simpleton has “only a soul.” Cretin is a corruption of the Swiss French word for Christian. Bloody probably derives from “by our lady.” Chubby Checker successfully sued a penis size estimating app. Latin has “homo” and “vir” for man, hence virtue means manly qualities. (Romans SO patriarchal!) Calvary is the place of the skull, don’t confuse it with cavalry. I was totally using spendthrift the wrong way!
I’ve read a few books about word origins and I follow some podcasts about words. I learned something new on every page of this book.
What I learned: Jeep is a contraction of G.P. The Dutch term for doughnut is olykoek (oil-cake). The antibiotic bacitracin is named after the bacilli of a woman named Margaret Treacy. There is an equine strain of pox that gave cavalry immunity to small pox. Tarantulas are named after Taranto Italy. A simpleton has “only a soul.” Cretin is a corruption of the Swiss French word for Christian. Bloody probably derives from “by our lady.” Chubby Checker successfully sued a penis size estimating app. Latin has “homo” and “vir” for man, hence virtue means manly qualities. (Romans SO patriarchal!) Calvary is the place of the skull, don’t confuse it with cavalry. I was totally using spendthrift the wrong way!
March 10, 2022
A rapid-fire tour of a wide variety of words and the oddities behind many etymologies. The format was perfect for the way I use bedtime reading: short chapters, interesting but forgettable content, a quick read. The title is not always accurate: the book is only intermittently entertaining.
September 11, 2022
words
Logophiles, philologoses and lexiphiles will love this one.
And you don’t need to read the chapters in numerical order…
In other WORDS - it’s a great book for anywhere anytime any device.
Logophiles, philologoses and lexiphiles will love this one.
And you don’t need to read the chapters in numerical order…
In other WORDS - it’s a great book for anywhere anytime any device.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews