Jess Zafarris
@jesszafarris.bsky.social
Author of USELESS ETYMOLOGY, WORDS FROM HELL, and ONCE UPON A WORD. Podcaster/cohost, Words Unravelled. Editor-at-Large, Ragan + PR Daily. Adjunct prof at Emerson. Speaker, content director, social pro, ad world wordsmith. https://linktr.ee/JessZafarris
Pinned
Jess Zafarris
@jesszafarris.bsky.social
· Jul 30
Something special arrived today!
Useless Etymology will head out into the larger world on October 7th, but in the meantime here’s a little unbox and a reflection on its reason for being.
Useless Etymology will head out into the larger world on October 7th, but in the meantime here’s a little unbox and a reflection on its reason for being.
i searched for knitted wool dragon sweaters
November 25, 2025 at 5:33 PM
i searched for knitted wool dragon sweaters
Day 3 away from my girlie and having to subsist on photos from my spouse🥺
November 25, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Day 3 away from my girlie and having to subsist on photos from my spouse🥺
Reposted by Jess Zafarris
TIL about broom plants! 🙂 Thank you!
Want to hear about witches' broom viruses?
Want to hear about witches' broom viruses?
For Spooky Season 🧹:
ACCORDING TO SCIENCE™, witches' brooms are real, and can be caused by a plant virus.
Seriously: 'Longan witches broom-associated virus ( LWBaV)'
You're seeing the result below: this is a witch's broom.
(📷: Mary Holland)
ACCORDING TO SCIENCE™, witches' brooms are real, and can be caused by a plant virus.
Seriously: 'Longan witches broom-associated virus ( LWBaV)'
You're seeing the result below: this is a witch's broom.
(📷: Mary Holland)
November 21, 2025 at 1:36 PM
TIL about broom plants! 🙂 Thank you!
Want to hear about witches' broom viruses?
Want to hear about witches' broom viruses?
Brooms are named after broom plants, and scrubbing is named after shrubs.
Broom (Old English brōm) is a yellow-flowered shrub whose tough, wiry twigs made a handy sweeping tool. It was also used as fuel for your fire and in some herbal medicines, and young buds were sometimes pickled and eaten.
Broom (Old English brōm) is a yellow-flowered shrub whose tough, wiry twigs made a handy sweeping tool. It was also used as fuel for your fire and in some herbal medicines, and young buds were sometimes pickled and eaten.
November 21, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Brooms are named after broom plants, and scrubbing is named after shrubs.
Broom (Old English brōm) is a yellow-flowered shrub whose tough, wiry twigs made a handy sweeping tool. It was also used as fuel for your fire and in some herbal medicines, and young buds were sometimes pickled and eaten.
Broom (Old English brōm) is a yellow-flowered shrub whose tough, wiry twigs made a handy sweeping tool. It was also used as fuel for your fire and in some herbal medicines, and young buds were sometimes pickled and eaten.
They say I'm a dog-bodied, book-headed bum, and who's to argue?
November 20, 2025 at 4:08 PM
They say I'm a dog-bodied, book-headed bum, and who's to argue?
Reposted by Jess Zafarris
In which @jesszafarris.bsky.social relays a tale of finding out *just* how "beyond" an encounter at BED BATH AND BEYOND can go. This show is my favorite thing on all of Youtube.
The strangest quirks of the English language
YouTube video by Words Unravelled with RobWords and Jess Zafarris
youtu.be
November 20, 2025 at 2:02 PM
In which @jesszafarris.bsky.social relays a tale of finding out *just* how "beyond" an encounter at BED BATH AND BEYOND can go. This show is my favorite thing on all of Youtube.
highly recommend whatever this is
November 20, 2025 at 12:47 AM
highly recommend whatever this is
Hubby wanted a pup of his own, so Fable has a new baby brother. Meet Obi!
November 19, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Hubby wanted a pup of his own, so Fable has a new baby brother. Meet Obi!
My mother in law gets me the best damn gifts
November 18, 2025 at 12:16 AM
My mother in law gets me the best damn gifts
Update: Checked on the neighbor and learned that the hullabaloo was over a gas leak. All is well and everyone is fine. 🩵
The elderly couple across the street had emergency vehicles outside for a while tonight. Would knocking on their door tomorrow to offer a grocery or takeout run be intrusive or helpful? I’ve chatted with the lady who lives there casually but don’t know them well.
November 14, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Update: Checked on the neighbor and learned that the hullabaloo was over a gas leak. All is well and everyone is fine. 🩵
Here's a clip of me talking about the origin of nostalgia on NPR!
www.npr.org/transcripts/...
www.npr.org/transcripts/...
Once upon a time, nostalgia was epidemic among homesick soldiers
The word began as a medical diagnosis but over the centuries has evolved to mean the longing for a bygone, idealized past.
www.npr.org
November 14, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Here's a clip of me talking about the origin of nostalgia on NPR!
www.npr.org/transcripts/...
www.npr.org/transcripts/...
The elderly couple across the street had emergency vehicles outside for a while tonight. Would knocking on their door tomorrow to offer a grocery or takeout run be intrusive or helpful? I’ve chatted with the lady who lives there casually but don’t know them well.
November 14, 2025 at 3:12 AM
The elderly couple across the street had emergency vehicles outside for a while tonight. Would knocking on their door tomorrow to offer a grocery or takeout run be intrusive or helpful? I’ve chatted with the lady who lives there casually but don’t know them well.
Reposted by Jess Zafarris
Reposted by Jess Zafarris
The WINNINGEST episode of Words Unraveled. There's always at least *one* "holy shit!" moment where you realize a thing you've known as a sound forever becomes clear in its origin in a way that makes you hear it differently from now on. Good stuff, @robwords.bsky.social & @jesszafarris.bsky.social
Which was the original 'football'? | SPORTS WORDS
YouTube video by Words Unravelled with RobWords and Jess Zafarris
youtu.be
November 12, 2025 at 11:59 PM
The WINNINGEST episode of Words Unraveled. There's always at least *one* "holy shit!" moment where you realize a thing you've known as a sound forever becomes clear in its origin in a way that makes you hear it differently from now on. Good stuff, @robwords.bsky.social & @jesszafarris.bsky.social
Reposted by Jess Zafarris
"Which was the original 'football'?" | Sports Words from Words Unravelled with @robwords.bsky.social & @jesszafarris.bsky.social
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClRq...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClRq...
Which was the original 'football'? | SPORTS WORDS
YouTube video by Words Unravelled with RobWords and Jess Zafarris
www.youtube.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:25 PM
"Which was the original 'football'?" | Sports Words from Words Unravelled with @robwords.bsky.social & @jesszafarris.bsky.social
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClRq...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClRq...
Fantastic fact from @leagueofthelexicon.bsky.social's newsletter.
![A screenshot reading: Keyboard (n.)
The first key-boards [sic] were found on musical instruments, specifically organs, pianos, harpsicords and the like, with the word first appearing in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) in 1776. The first citation for a type-based keyboard is 1846, in relation to a telegraphy machine. Given the early design of these devices, it was an obvious choice, since they used actual piano keys, transposed from hammering strings to inputting letters.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:wcq3fur7p7lt6bd7thp4gh2n/bafkreieu4m53grnf2vqd4woqqvbfwk6p73lromdrhzdjt4ry4uu62jvr5u@jpeg)
November 12, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Fantastic fact from @leagueofthelexicon.bsky.social's newsletter.
Fable hopes that Wolf will play with her if she wiggles her butt at him enough, and it sort of works. (Also, wait for the ending.)
November 12, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Fable hopes that Wolf will play with her if she wiggles her butt at him enough, and it sort of works. (Also, wait for the ending.)
Had a lovely time speaking at Chatham Bookstore in Chatham, NY, this past weekend! The yarn shop next door (accessed via secret passage!) had a cozy space where I was able to present to a lovely crowd.
November 11, 2025 at 2:23 AM
Had a lovely time speaking at Chatham Bookstore in Chatham, NY, this past weekend! The yarn shop next door (accessed via secret passage!) had a cozy space where I was able to present to a lovely crowd.
How it feels enrolling for out-of-pocket health insurance
a baby is looking out of a window with the words `` here you go '' .
Alt: a baby is throwing money of a window with the words `` here you go '' .
media.tenor.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:06 PM
How it feels enrolling for out-of-pocket health insurance
Reposted by Jess Zafarris
I am now 85 out of 100 books from my target goal for the year. Easy peasey.
Currently reading Useless Etymology by @jesszafarris.bsky.social which is alternatively titled how I awkwardly try to make casual conversation with people. Hey, did you know that the word "curfew"... oh... they're gone...
Currently reading Useless Etymology by @jesszafarris.bsky.social which is alternatively titled how I awkwardly try to make casual conversation with people. Hey, did you know that the word "curfew"... oh... they're gone...
November 9, 2025 at 1:43 AM
I am now 85 out of 100 books from my target goal for the year. Easy peasey.
Currently reading Useless Etymology by @jesszafarris.bsky.social which is alternatively titled how I awkwardly try to make casual conversation with people. Hey, did you know that the word "curfew"... oh... they're gone...
Currently reading Useless Etymology by @jesszafarris.bsky.social which is alternatively titled how I awkwardly try to make casual conversation with people. Hey, did you know that the word "curfew"... oh... they're gone...
Reposted by Jess Zafarris
hey friends. I’ve joined over 60 other content creators on a team for @feedingamerica.org. $1 = 10 meals, meaning even a single dollar donation will help de-enshittify the holidays for hungry families. give if you can, boost if you can’t. thank you! ❤️💪 teamfeed.feedingamerica.org/participants...
I'm supporting Feeding America!
To feed America’s hungry through food banks and engage our country in the fight to end hunger
teamfeed.feedingamerica.org
November 8, 2025 at 4:18 PM
hey friends. I’ve joined over 60 other content creators on a team for @feedingamerica.org. $1 = 10 meals, meaning even a single dollar donation will help de-enshittify the holidays for hungry families. give if you can, boost if you can’t. thank you! ❤️💪 teamfeed.feedingamerica.org/participants...
Looking for a new comedic fantasy or sci-fi book to read (and yes unfortunately I have exhausted all of Sir Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams’ works). Recommendations?
November 8, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Looking for a new comedic fantasy or sci-fi book to read (and yes unfortunately I have exhausted all of Sir Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams’ works). Recommendations?
The new Frankenstein film is stunning, both visually and philosophically. It’s a wonderful modern tribute to Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s original.
November 8, 2025 at 12:30 AM
The new Frankenstein film is stunning, both visually and philosophically. It’s a wonderful modern tribute to Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s original.
There just aren’t words for how much I love this gorgeous little girlie.
November 7, 2025 at 6:55 PM
There just aren’t words for how much I love this gorgeous little girlie.
Reposted by Jess Zafarris
It’s chilly. Time to curl up with two special new books.
Useless Etymology, about fun word origins by the fantastic @jesszafarris.bsky.social and This Way Up by the hilarious Map Men @jayforeman.bsky.social and @markcooperjones.bsky.social
Cameo sticker from the lovely @mattgrayy.es
Useless Etymology, about fun word origins by the fantastic @jesszafarris.bsky.social and This Way Up by the hilarious Map Men @jayforeman.bsky.social and @markcooperjones.bsky.social
Cameo sticker from the lovely @mattgrayy.es
November 7, 2025 at 4:36 PM
It’s chilly. Time to curl up with two special new books.
Useless Etymology, about fun word origins by the fantastic @jesszafarris.bsky.social and This Way Up by the hilarious Map Men @jayforeman.bsky.social and @markcooperjones.bsky.social
Cameo sticker from the lovely @mattgrayy.es
Useless Etymology, about fun word origins by the fantastic @jesszafarris.bsky.social and This Way Up by the hilarious Map Men @jayforeman.bsky.social and @markcooperjones.bsky.social
Cameo sticker from the lovely @mattgrayy.es