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jesszafarris.bsky.social
Etymology! Author of WORDS FROM HELL and ONCE UPON A WORD. Podcaster/cohost of Words Unravelled. Content director, engagement director, professor, media and ad world wordsmith. https://linktr.ee/JessZafarris
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The TTRPG guide I contributed to is out! The Game Master’s Book of Legendary Locations has a range of landscapes, settings and enemies ready for your party to face.

submitted 2 hours ago • 4 comments

Useless Etymology is the No. 1 new release in Etymology on Amazon! Arriving October 2025.

submitted 10 hours ago • 2 comments

Ah yes, legit-book-reviews dot com, the totally legit source for the legittest book reviews and no ulterior motives whatsoever!

submitted 1 day ago • 4 comments

The Proto-Indo-European root of the word rumor, *reu-, means “to bellow.” Its Latin (rumorem) and Old French (rumor) predecessors primarily meant “noise” or “clamor,” but were also used disapprovingly for common talk and popular opinion, which ultimately led to today’s gossipy English sense.

submitted 2 days ago • 4 comments

Half of the 10 types of seeds I haphazardly planted this season may have died, but I grew these three sugar snap peas, so I’m basically good on groceries for the season, right?

submitted 4 days ago • 4 comments

A time-sensitive edition of Words Unravelled will be landing in podcast feeds/on YouTube next week. Subscribe here: podfollow.com/words-unrave... or here: youtube.com/@wordsunravelled

submitted 4 days ago • 2 comments

Also fun: The Old English word for a timekeeping device was dægmæl, dæg "day" + mæl "measure, mark," with the second element realated to the word "meal," literally an appointed/measured time (at which one would eat).

submitted 4 days ago • 5 comments

Ranger at age 6 and age (almost) 13.

submitted 4 days ago • 9 comments

Some would call it "a lack of structure". We would call it "the element of surprise".

submitted 5 days ago • 6 comments

A few people have asked me how @robwords.bsky.social and I prep for each episode of Words Unravelled: We almost never tell each other what words we'll research; we determine our topic (like cinema terms or animals), do independent digging to supplement what we already know, and then run with it!

submitted 5 days ago • 3 comments