From 'shotclog', a Yorkshire term for a companion only tolerated because he is paying for the drinks, to Albanian having 29 words to describe different kinds of eyebrows, the languages of the world are full of amazing, amusing and illuminating words and expressions that will improve absolutely everybody's quality of life. All they need is this book! This bumper volume gathers all three of Adam Jacot de Boinod's acclaimed books about language - The Wonder of Whiffling, The Meaning of Tingo and Toujours Tingo (their fans include everyone from Stephen Fry to Michael Palin) - into one highly entertaining, keenly priced compendium. As Mariella Frostup said 'You'll never be lost for words again!'
[...]... ‘so-so’ is found in many languages, and often in a similarly repetitive form: it s tako tako in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, aixi aixi in Catalan, cosi cosi in Italian, wale wale in Chipewyan (Canada), hanter hanter in Cornish, thik thik in Gujarati (India), hai hao in Mandarin, jako tako in Polish, ithin ithin in Sinhala (Sri Lanka), soyle boyle in Turkish, etsi ketsi in Greek, atal atal in Occitan (France),... news aawwaah (Dardja, Algeria) a shout of doubt or hesitation a x (Karuk, North America) how disgusting! aduh (Malay) ouch or wow! aduhai (Indonesian) an expression of admiration alaih (U lwa, Nicaragua) gosh! goodness! help! alalau (Quechuan, Peru) brrr! (of cold) amit-amit (Indonesian) forgive me! ammazza (Italian) it s a killer! wow! asshe (Hausa, Nigeria) a cry of grief at distressing news bambule... The Arab exclamation ‘God protect us from hairy women and beardless men’ pinpoints the importance of facial hair as a mark of rank, experience and attractiveness: gras bilong fes (Tok Pisin, Papua New Guinea) a beard (literally, grass belonging to the face) hemigeneios (Ancient Greek) with only half a beard qarba (Persian) white hairs appearing in the beard sim-zanakh (Persian) with a silver chin poti... hoped for: makahakahaka (Hawaiian) deep-set eyeballs mata ego (Rapa Nui, Easter Island) eyes that reveal that a person has been crying ablaq-chashm (Persian) having intensely black and white eyes jegil (Malay) to stare with bulging eyes melotot (Indonesian) to stare in annoyance with widened eyes All ears English is not terribly helpful when it comes to characterizing ears, unlike, say, Albanian, in which... the word that enables one human being to converse with another: aa (Diola, Senegal) beeta (Soninke, Mali, Senegal and Ivory Coast) bok (Croatian) boozhoo (Ojibwe, U SA and Canada) daw-daw (Jutlandish, Denmark) ella (Awabakal, Australia) i ay (Huaorani, Ecuador) khaumykhyghyz (Bashkir, Russia) nark (Phorhépecha, Mexico) rozhbash (Kurdi, Iraq and Iran) samba (Lega, Congo) wali-wali (Limbe, Sierra Leone)... feet ’akihi (Hawaiian) to walk o without paying attention to directions Walking in Zimbabwe The Shona-speaking people of Zimbabwe have some very specialized verbs for di erent kinds of walking: chakwaira, through a muddy place making a squelching sound; dowora, for a long time on bare feet; svavaira, huddled, cold and wet; minaira, with swinging hips; pushuka, in a very short dress; shwitaira, naked;... clear the throat, especially to attract attention kökochöka (Nahuatl, Mexico) to make gulping sounds jarida biriqihi (Arabic) he choked on but couldn’t swallow saliva (from excitement, alarm or grief) o ka la nokonoko (Hawaiian) a day spent in nervous anticipation of a coughing spell Armless in Nicaragua In U lwa, which is spoken in the eastern part of Nicaragua, no distinction is made between certain... Spanish) a handsome young man (literally, young pigeon) qiubo (Chinese) the bright and clear eyes of a beautiful woman mahj (Persian) looking beautiful after a disease avoir la frite (French) to be in great shape (literally, to have the French fry) magandang hinaharap (Tagalog, Philippines) nice breasts (literally, nice future) dayadrsti (Hindi) compassionate eyes kemayu (Indonesian) to act like a beauty... (Tulu, India) a woman with a beard False friends willing (Abowakal, Australia) lips buzz (Arabic) nipple bash (Zulu) head thumb (Albanian) teat nger (Yiddish) toe Bad hair day Hair on the top of the head – or the lack of it – remains a worldwide preoccupation: basribis (U lwa, Nicaragua) having uneven, poorly cut hair daberlack (U llans, Northern Ireland) seaweed or uncontrollable long hair kudpalu (Tulu,... asina asina in Asturian (Spain), elae belae in Azeri (Azerbaijan) and azoy azoy in Yiddish Happy talk Good or bad, modest or conceited, hard-working or lazy, all of us experience the highs of emotion: tout baigne dans l´huile (French) hunky-dory (literally, everything is bathing in oil) ai bu shishou (Chinese) so delighted with something that one can scarcely take one’s eyes o it ichigo-ichie (Japanese) . cold) amit-amit (Indonesian) forgive me! ammazza (Italian) it s a killer! wow! asshe (Hausa, Nigeria) a cry of grief at distressing news bambule (Italian). face) hemigeneios (Ancient Greek) with only half a beard qarba (Persian) white hairs appearing in the beard sim-zanakh (Persian) with a silver chin poti