In Other Words : a Language Lover's Guide to the Most Intriguing Words Around the World

"A delightful treasure house, literally a thesaurus, of linguistic marvels." --from the foreword by bestselling author Simon WinchesterA colorfully illustrated collection of more than 90 untranslatable words & phrases & the unique insights they offer into the cultures they come from. Ever racked your brain for a word you're convinced should exist, yet is inexplicably absent from the dictionary? All languages have their limitations-should English fall short, the expression may lie elsewhere. That's where this book comes in: a quirky, international lexicon of linguistic gems that capture cultural untranslatables with satisfying precision. Take for example the Japanese yoko meshi, “a meal eaten sideways,” describing the experience of trying to communicate in an alien tongue, or mono-no-aware, the appreciation of life's sadness. From the distinctive coziness of the Danish hygge, to the unrestrained dis of the Mayan bol (“in-laws” & “stupidity”), to the profound collectivism of the Zulu concept of ubuntu (roughly, “I AM because WE ARE"), these mots justes are grouped according to language & prefaced with insightful overviews of the relevant cultures by linguist Christopher J. Moore.Embellished with 20 entertaining new untranslatable words & phrases & 90 characterful color illustrations by Lan Truong, & with a foreword by Simon Winchester, In Other Words is amusing, profound, & unputdownable--a gorgeously packaged gift book to entertain even the most well-versed polyglot with marvels of language from around the world.In 2001 Moore became a full-time writer. Recently published is Who's Whose?: A No-Nonsense Guide to Easily Confused Words (Bloomsbury, 2004). He is also the author of the Nick Revill series, a sequence of historical mysteries based in Elizabethan London & set around Shakespeare's Globe theatre. When ideas fail, words come in handy. But sometimes you can't find the right word, and what you want to say can't be found in the dictionary. English has its limitations, but the expression you're searching for may exist in another language. In Other Words is a unique collection of well-known and absolutely obscure "untranslatables"-linguistic gems that convey a feeling or notion with satisfying precision yet resist simple translation. This quirky lexicon of hard-to-translate words gives the reader a new way to look at the world and how words relate to us. The words are arranged by region or country of origin, and a brief introduction to each section-each done by a respected translator-gives insight into the culture of the people as well as the language. Each of these singular words is cleverly and thoroughly defined, with interesting details and references throughout. The search for that elusive mot juste may be over.