Jess Zafarris
@jesszafarris
Author of USELESS ETYMOLOGY, WORDS FROM HELL, ONCE UPON A WORD, INTO THE WORDS. Podcaster, Words Unravelled. Adjunct prof at Emerson and UFL. Speaker, content director, social pro, ad world wordsmith.
This delightful collection just came up in my phone memories: earlier this year @robwords.com and I (along with his lovely friend Laura who hosted us) visited The Globe in London, where I questioned Rob’s identity, befriended a large rat, and acquired a tiny Shakespeare.
Also, you’d appreciate this silly comment. First, my hubs has always worked in legal markets, started in medical (even now his customers are veterans and cancer patients) but he’s essentially a retail ops guy. Meanwhile, I make more than 4x what he does, and only about 30% from etymology stuff.
WUUU! It's a new Words Unravelled! This time, @robwords.com and I practically go dada over art supplies, movements, techniques, and even rare Crayon colors. 🎨 Watch on YouTube or listen anywhere you pod your casts. ▶️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xi1... 🎧 audioboom.com/channels/512...
I am pinching myself because it feels like a dream that I was able to coauthor a book with my friend Shannon Miller! I had worked with Media Lab to contribute to another book, so when they asked me to author a delightfully dizzyingly titled factlet (IYKYK) compendium… well, obviously I had to.
You know what sucks? When you’re trying to find out public info about a power outage and the story is paywalled. I literally just want to find a place to shower 😭
Please inspect this beeautiful insect. I think I may have reached the apiex of my bee photential with this one.
Bought a big new dog bed for my biggest dog. It was received as expected.
The OED also has “VY-tee” as the only pronunciation for the tree and the brain part.
That’s why I’m having an issue though, because the tree/shrub is pronounced arbor VY-tee, and the brain structure was named later than the tree. But the name of the brain part draws more upon notions of mythic trees of life than the actual garden tree.
I mean, your version is more romantic, but the earliest quotes are in that sort of context.
They were a riot as a puppy and made him look like Batman as an adult 😄
Also, what Ranger (who does not like water and is not a good swimmer) was happily doing at the time.
Why is this wasp carrying a (hopefully dead) caterpillar around? Do they eat caterpillars?
When Obi finds a particularly good stick in the yard, he brings it up to his cot on the patio. My favorite part of this habit is that his Interesting Stick collection is actually composed of unusually interesting sticks.
Anyone know why the BookScan Weekly Sales report in Author Central only goes back two years? I want ALL the numbers, and I know my kids' book in particular sold well over 20K copies before this range.
RIP Marjane Satrapi. What a legend. Persepolis altered my understanding of the world and should be required reading for everyone.
My cat is named Wolfgang Amadeus Meowzart. They are practically cousins.
Hello, please show me your pets and tell me how they got their name. Here are two of mine: Obi and Fable, respectively named after Star Wars and Aesop-like storytelling.