Adam Jacot de Boinod
Author of The Meaning of Tingo: and Other Extraordinary Words from Around the World
About the Author
Series
Works by Adam Jacot de Boinod
The Meaning of Tingo: and Other Extraordinary Words from Around the World (2006) 823 copies, 11 reviews
El significado de Tingo 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- Jacot
- Birthdate
- 1960
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Harrow School, London, England, UK
University of Cambridge - Agent
- Peter Straus
- Short biography
- Adam Jacot de Boinod first acquired his vokabulyu (Russian for 'a passion for foreign words') while working as a researcher for the BBC program QI. While searching through 280 dictionaries, 140 Web sites and innumerable books on language, he developed a textbook case of samlermani (Danish for 'mania for collecting'), became close to being fissilig (German for 'flustered to the point of incompetence') and narrowly avoided karoshi (Japanese for 'death from overwork'). He is now intending to nglayap (Indonesian for 'wander far from home for no particular purpose'), but for the moment lives in London. (from The Meaning of Tingo, 2005)
- Nationality
- UK
- Places of residence
- London, England, UK
- Associated Place (for map)
- England, UK
Members
Reviews
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1705874.html
Sequel to The Meaning of Tingo, with more strange words from other languages. I actually found this a bit more impressive and better organised than the first volume, with some very interesting idioms which I may try out for myself: the Puerto Rican expression for being very nervous which translates as "like a crocodile in a wallet factory"; or the Swahili saying that the day you decide to leave your house naked is the day you bump into your in-laws. show more And I loved the French tongue-twister, "Combien de sous sont ces saucissons-ci? - Ces saucissons-ci sont six sous." show less
Sequel to The Meaning of Tingo, with more strange words from other languages. I actually found this a bit more impressive and better organised than the first volume, with some very interesting idioms which I may try out for myself: the Puerto Rican expression for being very nervous which translates as "like a crocodile in a wallet factory"; or the Swahili saying that the day you decide to leave your house naked is the day you bump into your in-laws. show more And I loved the French tongue-twister, "Combien de sous sont ces saucissons-ci? - Ces saucissons-ci sont six sous." show less
A delightful book for people interested in language and trivia. I found myself copying down words and phrases to incorporate into my vocabulary, including the Persian sanud, "the exercise of the mind upon an unprofitable subject"; the Japanese phrase suna o kamu yo na, "like chewing sand"; and the Indonesian desus, "a quiet and smooth sound as someone farting but not very loudly." I was kind of disappointed that there was no scatological section however; I know Pennsylvania Dutch (the show more language of the Amish) has a fine word meaning "globules of poop that get caught in your pubic hair." show less
The sequel to The Meaning of Tingo, I was looking forward to Toujours Tingo but it left the impression of something thrown together very quickly to capitalise on the success of The Meaning of Tingo (I wonder if there's a word for that?)
That's not to say there aren't any zingers here, with my favorite probably the Malay phrase "Pisan Zapra", supposedly meaning "the time taken to eat a banana" (although I note that Malay speakers don't necessary believe this to be a true translation).
That's not to say there aren't any zingers here, with my favorite probably the Malay phrase "Pisan Zapra", supposedly meaning "the time taken to eat a banana" (although I note that Malay speakers don't necessary believe this to be a true translation).
Boinod’s culling from over 250 languages can get a bit tiring if one tries to read in a single sitting. The sheer insane spectrum of meanings and shades of meanings and nuances of meanings is mind-boggling. This isn’t one of those books whose fifty-cent words you try to incorporate into your daily life, but rather a window into the necessity of certain cultures to coin words to mean very, very specific things. It would make for an interesting bathroom reader.
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Statistics
- Works
- 6
- Members
- 1,050
- Popularity
- #24,543
- Rating
- 3.5
- Reviews
- 14
- ISBNs
- 23
- Languages
- 10