The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll Through the Hidden Connections of the English Language

Mark Forsyth

Apr 2014 · Ascent Audio · Narrated by Don Hagen

About this audiobook

Do you know why... ...a mortgage is literally a death pledge? ...why guns have girls' names? ...why salt is related to soldier? You're about to find out... The Etymologicon (e-t?-‘mä-lä-ji-kän) is: *Witty (wi-te\): Full of clever humor *Erudite (er-?-dit): Showing knowledge *Ribald (ri-b?ld): Crude, offensive The Etymologicon is a completely unauthorized guide to the strange underpinnings of the English language. It explains: how you get from “gruntled” to “disgruntled”; why you are absolutely right to believe that your meager salary barely covers “money for salt”; how the biggest chain of coffee shops in the world (hint: Seattle) connects to whaling in Nantucket; and what precisely the Rolling Stones have to do with gardening.

About the author

Born in London in 1977, Mark Forsyth (a.k.a The Inky Fool) was given a copy of the Oxford English Dictionary as a christening present and has never looked back. His book The Etymologicon was a Sunday Times Number One Bestseller and his TED Talk "What's a snollygoster?" has had more than half a million views.