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Grace Tierney

Goodreads Author

Born

in Ireland

Website

https://wordfoolery.wordpress.com/

Twitter

Wordfoolery

Genre

History, Nonfiction

Member Since

January 2014

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/gracetierney

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Grace Tierney writes in rural Ireland. Her award winning Wordfoolery blog about unusual English words has been running for 16 years exploring everything from “pooka” to “friggatriskaidekaphobia”.

Grace has serialised three novels on the online reading platform Channillo and published four word history books (print & ebook) - "Words Christmas Gave Us", "Words the Vikings Gave Us", "Words the Sea Gave Us" and “How To Get Your Name In The Dictionary”. She’s an etymology blogger, columnist in her local paper, regular radio contributor, and publishes articles and short fiction. When not writing you’ll find her reading, crafting, or hiking up a hill.

Grace’s favourite eponymous hero is Casanova because his swashbuckling life was so extraordinary, ...more

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Average rating: 4.42 · 12 ratings · 5 reviews · 5 distinct works

	Words The Vikings Gave Us (Wordfoolery Words Series) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 4 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Words Christmas Gave Us (Wordfoolery Words Series) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	How To Get Your Name In The Dictionary 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Modern Words with Old Roots it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Words The Sea Gave Us (Wordfoolery Words Series) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2020 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Grace Tierney's Blog

The Romantic Roots of Psychology

Hello,
I’m continuing my month of words with female origins in honour of Women’s History Month 2026 this week and today’s word is psychology which has a story of a Greek goddess and a link to a famous fairy tale.

Psyche was a Greek mortal of great beauty. She roused the wrath of Aphrodite when men turned their worship from the goddess of love to this mortal girl. Aphrodite commanded Eros, the Greek

Grace is Currently Reading

Grace Tierney is currently reading

The Annals of Imperial Rome

by Tacitus

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Mar 26, 2026 05:07PM

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Shrines of Gaiety

by Kate Atkinson

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Mar 19, 2026 05:00PM

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Elizabeth's Irish Wars (Irish Studies)

by Cyril Falls

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Mar 13, 2026 04:33PM

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Grace Tierney wrote a new blog post The Romantic Roots of Psychology Hello, I’m continuing my month of words with female origins in honour of Women’s History Month 2026 this week and today’s word is psychology which has Read more of this blog post »
Mar 30, 2026 05:20AM · like
Grace Tierney is currently reading The Annals of Imperial Rome by Tacitus	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 26, 2026 05:07PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Annals of Imperial Rome by Tacitus. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Annals of Imperial Rome by Tacitus <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Grace Tierney rated a book it was amazing The Bullet That Missed (Thursday Murder Club, #3) by Richard Osman	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Properly twisty cosy crime with our favourite retired detectives, this time with a Russian from Elizabeth’s murky past and a Swedish crypto expert. Lovely as always to spend time with the central characters.
Mar 19, 2026 05:00PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Grace Tierney is currently reading Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 19, 2026 05:00PM · like
Grace Tierney rated a book it was amazing The Bullet That Missed (Thursday Murder Club, #3) by Richard Osman	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Properly twisty cosy crime with our favourite retired detectives, this time with a Russian from Elizabeth’s murky past and a Swedish crypto expert. Lovely as always to spend time with the central characters.
Mar 19, 2026 04:57PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Grace Tierney did not finish Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Döblin	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 19, 2026 04:57PM · like
Grace Tierney rated a book it was amazing The Queen of Poisons (The Marlow Murder Club, #3) by Robert Thorogood	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Really enjoyed this. A super twisty cosy crime featuring a unique trio of female amateur sleuths led by the spirited crossword setter Judith Potts in an idyllic contemporary River Thames town. If you enjoy Richard Osman or Father Brown, try these.
Mar 17, 2026 12:11PM · like · see review
Grace Tierney is currently reading The Bullet That Missed (Thursday Murder Club, #3) by Richard Osman	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 17, 2026 12:10PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Grace Tierney is currently reading The Queen of Poisons (The Marlow Murder Club, #3) by Robert Thorogood	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 16, 2026 04:55PM · like
Grace Tierney is currently reading Elizabeth's Irish Wars (Irish Studies) by Cyril Falls	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 13, 2026 04:33PM · like

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Grace’s Quotes

“Fine,’ she said, using the universal Scottish word for every state of being from ‘I’m dying in anguish’ to ‘I’m experiencing euphoric joy.’ ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘I’m fine.”
― Kate Atkinson, When Will There Be Good News?

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Grace’s Year In Books

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396 posts
Grace Tierney's Blog

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The Romantic Roots of Psychology

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