Just Finished Reading: The Etymologicon – A Circular Stroll Through the Hidden Connections of the English Language by Mark Forsyth (FP: 2011)

It all started with an apparently simple question from a stranger – where does the word ‘Biscuit’ come from (twice baked before you Google it). After regaling the poor slob for the next 10-20 minutes of all the connections between biscuit and bicycle and much else besides he managed to escape never to look back. The author, after being sat down for an intervention by his closest family and friends, decided he had a problem which needed to be addressed – by putting all of his energy and knowledge of the English language into a book which he called The Etymologicon.

If like me you’ve ever wondered where some of the words and phrases you hear every day or maybe even use every day come from this is most definitely the book for you. Full of interesting stories (some of which I honestly had problems swallowing whole), the highways and byways of the planets global language – until it’s eventually replaced by Chinese – and revelations of the true meanings of some of the phrases that, on the face of it make no sense at all (my favourite bug-bear is ‘the exception that proves the rule’) this book will make you laugh out loud, nod sagely, bore people to death with language based revelations and generally make a nuisance of yourself for days on end. What it also did to me is deepen the love of the quirkiness of my native language all the more by letting me into some of its secrets and seeing just how random some of the sources are – not only from across the world but by the English mishearing, misunderstanding or simply modifying existing words to ‘make more sense’ and thereby changing them forever. If you never really considered language as a living, evolving thing this book will definitely change your mind on that count!

Above all else this is a delightful cornucopia of trivia, history, human fallibility, hubris, and the messy reality of language in all its glory. Highly recommended for any language geeks out there and for anyone who wants to dip into a work that is pretty much guaranteed to leave you chuckling after a few pages.