Patrick Skipworth

The title made me think this book was going to be about what the word "literally" means (as opposed to figuratively). Spoiler alert, it's not.

Instead it tells about the etymology of 12 different English words that come from languages around the world. The illustrations are great. The text is brief. The most interesting to me was that "companion" literally meant "with bread." Some were less interesting. I mean, is "worm" really an amazing word? Is it any surprise that it meant "wriggling show more creature"? (I'm being picky, but the introduction specifically says each of these words has a surprising story.)

The words included are: companion, ukulele, caribou, mummy, kookaburra, zero, worm, royalty, karaoke, guru, jaguar, and safari. show less

"Every word...contains a hidden story of its own."

Each word in this collection receives its own double-page spread, featuring an illustration of the word itself ("companion" is written in bread on a table, "ukelele" is written in lights) within a larger full-bleed illustration, and a round colored bubble with the word's pronunciation, origin, English meaning, original meaning, and a short paragraph.

Words: Companion, Ukelele, Caribou, Mummy, Kookaburra, Zero, Worm, Royalty, Karaoke, Guru, show more Jaguar, Safari

An author's note explains how the words were chosen, and a world map shows where different language families are spoken around the globe. show less