Friends with Words
Adventures in Languageland

There’s a certain fondness—maybe even reverence—I’ve had toward etymology for some time now. Maybe it’s studying theology that has repeatedly stapled Greek and Latin terms into my lexicon, or the way I’ve watched those words evolve into common English with a beautiful ancestry. Maybe it’s that littl......more

I am a big word nerd, so I loved this one! I loved how Barnette interweaved fun facts and curiosities with memories of her own life. I was particularly affected by her relationship with her Greek teacher and how it shaped her. Barnette's voice is delightful, and I'm glad I'll have this to refer to w......more

Delight and joy. Joy and delight. Two sentiments that the world is all too short on these days and all too abundant in this lovely, sweet, and moving memoir. Martha's genuine delight in the richness of language and words shines through from every page and fellow word-lovers (worders) will find thems......more

My formal training in etymology unfortunately made it so that I was not the right audience for this book. However, I wish it had been published sooner so that I could have assigned some excerpts to my students! We covered many similar things (mondegreens/metanalysis/Greek and Latin roots) that would......more

My thanks to NetGalley and Abrams Press for an advance copy of this book that is both education of a word loving person, and a look at the fascinating world of words, their meanings, the pasts and how language is adapting to our different and seemingly difficult future. My father had few claims to f......more