This wasn't my typical reading choice, but it was a fun one!

It's educational, but the topic and the writing were both entertaining. The author’s tone was fun and light even while talking about the Germanic origin of a word or breaking out a quote from the 1800s. The book made the information understandable and interesting.

I'd recommend this one!

Thank you, Jess Zafarris and NetGalley, for the ARC. I leave this review voluntarily and happily. Also, thank you publishers for your hard work!

If you live words and learn about them, this certainly is for you. Of course, this book is more than that it's about the dirty, nasty, and absolutely terrible words in our history. Some that can't be repeated. This book is absolutely full of facts from how they were created to their multiple meanings. It had me laughing to gasping in horror. I can not believe how some of these words came to be, then againhow can I not? History truly was strange and horrid at times.

I do admit it did take me some time to read through this book as it seemed to drag on. I enjoyed learning what it had to offer, but Etymology is not for me. It's not my future. This book did give me valuable information and some I will be sharing with my friends.

Who knew there were so many cuss words out there. Some that I might even be able to use now properly. Thank you once again for allowing me to read this ARC

I am a language lover and have always adored exploring the roots and origins of words, so Jeff Zafarris’ “Words from Hell: The Darkest Secrets of English Etymology,” immediately interested me. From the first page to the last, I laughed-out-loud, as well as squirmed some, as I read with enthusiasm the vocabulary definitions and historical contexts of lurid, filthy-mouthed swear words, so commonly spoken in today’s world.

This highly detailed, well-documented, and extraordinarily referenced work, also includes extensive examples of offensively pejorative slang phrases and slurs of ethnic, religious, racial, sexual, and gender identity (these also too offensive to list). Almost 300-pages in length, Zafarris provides origins and contexts on many other word categories: gender, sexuality, war, horror, alcohol, and witchcraft to name a few.

Although considered an entertainment book of humor and satire, this is a particularly useful reference document; however, read it with an open-mind because the contents are graphic, jarring and XXX-rated. This is not for the squeamish nor the prudish because the contents are explicit and many are sexually-oriented.

Nonetheless, for literary purposes, this is a fabulous source of rare material and includes an extensive bibliography for reference.

TheBookMaven graciously thanks NetGalley, Author Jeff Zafarris, and Publisher Hachette an imprint of Chambers Books for this advanced reader’s copy (ARC) for review.

4 ⭐️

This is the perfect book to prepare yourself to “Ackchyually…” your friends. Your friends will then hate you and you will no longer have any friends. In short, this is a book to study if you want more alone time.

All jokes aside. I found this to be an interesting book where I could discover where the more colorful words in our language came from.

I would recommend this to anyone who has an interest in language and writing.


**Thank you, NetGalley and Hachette, Chambers Books for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.**

Like most books compiled from blogs, this book is all surface and no substance. Although I have no doubt about his etymology, it is extremely incomplete. And, unhappily, his dull writing style can make even the history of naughty words boring.

Words from Hell is a wickedly humorous exploration of the English language. It explores the origins and history of the lewd, vulgar, and salacious as well as words that are not as innocent as they appear.

Super fascinating, my favorite section was on the etymology of horror, witchcraft, and the supernatural. But truly every chapter was chock full of great and easily digestible information. The blend of in depth information on etymology, history and humor keep this book interesting. It’s a real delight for word nerds, people who enjoy trivia and people interested in the darker aspects of language.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A Smorgasbord..
A veritable smorgasbord of linguistic delights in this well researched, often amusing and always fascinating book of words, meanings and mash ups. The real meanings of the foulest sounding words, the horrible histories of often everyday language and from the downright inappropriate to the outright sublime. It’s all here in well ordered and entertaining fashion.

As someone who is fascinated by etymology, this was so fun. It’s broken down into a few main chapters that form general categories (for example: swear words, supernatural words, violence words, etc.) and then each chapter is an alphabetical list of many terms and a brief explanation of their origin. Some words have clear histories, and some have multiple theories, and the author did a good job making the difference clear.
If you’re a word nerd who loves stuffing their brain with little fun facts, you’ll definitely enjoy this! (As long as you don’t mind reading lots of crude language, because that’s literally the topic of the book)

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

A well-researched but still easily digestible book about the etymology of some of our most commonly used words. The author thoroughly covers the salacious words expected from a book titled "Words from Hell" and very common words with extremely unexpected origins (see: vanilla, shark, dragon). I appreciate that the author doesn’t present the work as just a list of words but provides such great research while also infusing her personality. Favorite quote: “Clitoris: Congratulations, you’ve found it!” If that doesn’t want to make you read this I don’t know what will. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this advanced reader copy.

The good: the portions that were strictly about the word origins were very interesting
Not so good (in my opinion): seemed kind of preachy at times

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 - 3 stars