In modern publications, amateur reasoning about the origin of words has become noticeably widespread, based not on the science of the history of languages, but on the naive idea that such reasoning does not require any special knowledge, simple guesses are sufficient. At the same time, based on amateur guesses about the origin of words in such works, absolutely fantastic conclusions about the history of entire nations are often built. After all, we do not have mathematics - all arguments are not absolute. So if a researcher has a strong deep-seated incentive to “pull” in a certain direction, then the specifics of the case, alas, easily allow this urge to be realized - namely, it allows you to find more and more new arguments in the desired favor, unnoticed by yourself to inflate the significance of your arguments sides and minimize the significance of opposing arguments. The work of A. A. Zaliznyak shows how such reasoning differs from professional linguistics and why they have no chance of revealing the true history of words. Particular attention is paid to the most striking example of the use of amateur linguistics to construct a fictitious history of many countries - the so-called “new chronology” of A. T. Fomenko. I would like to speak out in defense of two simple ideas that were previously considered obvious and even simply banal, but now sound very unfashionable: 1) Truth exists, and the goal of science is to search for it. 2) In any discussed issue, a professional (if he is truly a professional, and not just a holder of official titles) is normally more right than an amateur. For whom For readers interested in linguistics and linguistics. It can be useful for both professional linguists and people who are just starting to study linguistics. In the book, Zaliznyak discusses various linguistic phenomena and problems, such as the origin of words, grammatical structures, and idioms. Thus, the book may be interesting and useful for anyone who wants to expand their knowledge in the field of linguistics and linguistics.