Only in the sense that learning the origins of some words can help you to understand words in a different language when learning a new language. But for the most part, it is only interesting when studying ancient languages and trying to decipher their meaning.
But for everyday words not so interesting.
Yes, I do. I wrote a paper in college about the etymology of “fart.” My teacher liked it so much he kept it. And in addition to being interested in the historic evolution of current words, I like to see the way words are currently evolving. That’s true even though I can’t stand the way some words are currently used (corporate-speak being a big offender – any time someone talks about how they’ve been “impacted” by something, I want to offer them an enema). Language is malleable and ever-evolving. Watching the process is almost like watching a dance.
I have about 7 or 8 regular dictionaries and a lot of special ones, including Greek and Latin, and I love looking things up. I also like knowing which words are related through their roots. Those connections amplify meaning.
Misspelled “fascinating” and got a great list of word suggestions, including vaccinating, hallucinating, ratiocinating (gonna have to look that one up), and facilitating. Unrelated to the question, I know, but I just love words.
Yup. I especially love words with odd etymologies. I had no idea “ketchup” was Chinese in origin until very recently. I also didn’t know the etymology of the word “big” is unknown.
I love the origins of all words, which was why taking Latin was like cocaine (I do not take cocaine, but I’ve heard much about taking it!) for me. I was able to find out the origins of many English words which was my introduction to the whole idea.
@GracieT Yeah, once you know a few prefixes, suffixes, and a little latin and greek, even if you have never heard of a word, you can usually decipher what it means, even if you can’t by the context in which it is used.