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The Deeper Meaning of Liff (1990)

by Douglas Adams, John Lloyd

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: Meaning of Liff (2)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,6332010,720 (3.73)11
Language Arts. Reference. Nonfiction. Humor (Nonfiction.) HTML:A rollicking, thought-provoking dictionary for the modern age, featuring definitions for those things we don't have words for, from the New York Times bestselling author behind The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams, and TV producer John Lloyd.
Does the sensation of Tingrith(1) make you yelp? Do you bend sympathetically when you see someone Ahenny(2)? Can you deal with a Naugatuck(3) without causing a Toronto(4)? Will you suffer from Kettering(5) this summer?
Probably. You are almost certainly familiar with all these experiences but just didn’t know that there are words for them. Well, in fact, there aren’t—or rather there weren’t, until Douglas Adams and John Lloyd decided to plug these egregious linguistic lacunae(6). They quickly realized that just as there are an awful lot of experiences that no one has a name for, so there are an awful lot of names for places you will never need to go to. What a waste. As responsible citizens of a small and crowded world, we must all learn the virtues of recycling(7) and put old, worn-out but still serviceable names to exciting, vibrant, new uses. This is the book that does that for you: The Deeper Meaning of Liff—a whole new solution to the problem of Great Wakering(8)
1—The feeling of aluminum foil against your fillings.
2—The way people stand when examining other people’s bookshelves.
3—A plastic packet containing shampoo, mustard, etc., which is impossible to open except by biting off
the corners.
4—Generic term for anything that comes out in a gush, despite all your efforts to let it out carefully, e.g., flour into a white sauce, ketchup onto fish, a dog into the yard, and another naughty meaning that we can’t put on the cover.
5—The marks left on your bottom and thighs after you’ve been sitting sunbathing in a wicker chair.
6—God knows what this means
7—For instance, some of this book was first published in Britain twenty-six years ago.
8—Look it up yourself.
… (more)
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» See also 11 mentions

English (18)  Norwegian (1)  German (1)  All languages (20)
Showing 1-5 of 18 (next | show all)
A lot of entertaining definitions attached to repurposed place names.

Only a handful of these pairings work. For the most part, the names are not suitable for their definitions, so you're best off ignoring them and just reading this as a list of "things for which there should already be words". ( )
  mkfs | Aug 13, 2022 |
A dictionary for things that don't have classifications or words. This is the book I read when I get home from work and need to just lie down and read the most ridiculous but hilarious shit. Love Douglas Adams.

Grobister: One who continually and publicly rearranges the position of his genitals.

Ossining: Trying to see past the person sitting in front of you at the cinema.

Darvel: To hold out hope for a better invitation until the last possible moment. ( )
  jaydenmccomiskie | Sep 27, 2021 |
Essential toilet book, dip in for a minute or three and have a giggle. ( )
  CliveUK | Sep 20, 2020 |
Using placenames to describe things not in the dictionary
  stevholt | Nov 19, 2017 |
I’m surprised that I didn’t love Douglas Adams’ THE DEEPER MEANING OF LIFF: A Dictionary of Things That There Aren’t Any Words For Yet. I certainly adored his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.

Ely (n.) The first, tiniest inkling that something, somewhere, has gone terribly wrong.

It seems that this book was really aimed at adolescent boys who find bodily functions amusing. There were many definitions that I laughed at but it was disheartening to find that there were outdated references and all the silly juvenile witticisms.

Wembly (n.) The hideous moment of confirmation that the disaster presaged in the ely (q.v.) has actually struck.

What Adams did, along with John Lloyd, was to take actual place names from around the world and give them phony definitions of ostensibly amusing quality.

Godalming (n.) Wonderful rush of relief on discovering that the ely (q.v.) and the wembly (q.v.) were in fact false alarms.

It took me years to find a copy of this book and I’m glad I did track it down, I’m just a little bit disappointed. There were plenty of giggles but this wouldn’t be a book I’d choose to take with me to a deserted island. It’s not a keeper. ( )
  BooksOn23rd | Nov 25, 2015 |
Showing 1-5 of 18 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (2 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Adams, Douglasprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Lloyd, Johnmain authorall editionsconfirmed
Kitchen, BertIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
A dictionary of things that there aren't any words for yet
Dedication
First words
Aalast (n.) One who changes his name to be nearer the front.
Quotations
Liff (n.) A common object or experience for which no word yet exists.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

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Language Arts. Reference. Nonfiction. Humor (Nonfiction.) HTML:A rollicking, thought-provoking dictionary for the modern age, featuring definitions for those things we don't have words for, from the New York Times bestselling author behind The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams, and TV producer John Lloyd.
Does the sensation of Tingrith(1) make you yelp? Do you bend sympathetically when you see someone Ahenny(2)? Can you deal with a Naugatuck(3) without causing a Toronto(4)? Will you suffer from Kettering(5) this summer?
Probably. You are almost certainly familiar with all these experiences but just didn’t know that there are words for them. Well, in fact, there aren’t—or rather there weren’t, until Douglas Adams and John Lloyd decided to plug these egregious linguistic lacunae(6). They quickly realized that just as there are an awful lot of experiences that no one has a name for, so there are an awful lot of names for places you will never need to go to. What a waste. As responsible citizens of a small and crowded world, we must all learn the virtues of recycling(7) and put old, worn-out but still serviceable names to exciting, vibrant, new uses. This is the book that does that for you: The Deeper Meaning of Liff—a whole new solution to the problem of Great Wakering(8)
1—The feeling of aluminum foil against your fillings.
2—The way people stand when examining other people’s bookshelves.
3—A plastic packet containing shampoo, mustard, etc., which is impossible to open except by biting off
the corners.
4—Generic term for anything that comes out in a gush, despite all your efforts to let it out carefully, e.g., flour into a white sauce, ketchup onto fish, a dog into the yard, and another naughty meaning that we can’t put on the cover.
5—The marks left on your bottom and thighs after you’ve been sitting sunbathing in a wicker chair.
6—God knows what this means
7—For instance, some of this book was first published in Britain twenty-six years ago.
8—Look it up yourself.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary
Revised and improved
Dictionary of words for which
No words exist yet.
(passion4reading)
Annoyed with a Noak
Hoak? Left with an Exeter?
Consult dictionary.
(passion4reading)
Learn one word a week,
Enrich vocabulary,
Baffle your colleagues!
(passion4reading)

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