Howard Tomb

someone said take another translation book with you - might not hurt to take this one as well. Might help you avoid insulting someone.
Then again, "When do you want me to knock you up?" Means entirely different things in England and America, doesn't it? (In America it's likely to get you knocked down.)

If you're buying this to genuinely learn Japanese, don't! Luckily I was taking a Japanese class when I got this book and the professor advised me that several sections did not say what the book claimed they did.

It's a good laugh, and some of it is right, but unless you speak the language reasonably well already, I would not recommend this book.

From the sneakily successful travel series with over 1 million copies in print, Wicked Spanish (over 250,000 copies in print) is the devilishly funny pocket-sized guide to language and culture in the land of manana. From managing epic taxi rides (The Old Man and the Chevy) to Perfecting the Haggle to Tipping the Police, Wicked Spanish anticipates and prepares norteamericanos for a wide range of exotic Latin customs and conditions-also know as que sera, sera. Explain to your innkeeper that show more you'd rather have private accommodations: Pero you prefiero un cuarto sin escorpiones. ("But I'd prefer a room without scorpions."). Politely ask your waiter what you're eating: QuS hace immovil dentro del mole? (What lies motionless under the spicy chocolate sauce?). And Mi abuelo perteneci. a un sindicato obrero ("My grandfather belonged to a labor union") may be just the ticket for kidnap victims of revolutionaries. Once acclimated, you'll make clever cockfight conversation, understand Zapotec Basketball, and even enjoy a cold cerveza with your wife in a friendly men's bar: No la mires. No le hables. No la toques. ("Do not stare at her. Do not address her. Do not touch her."). Above all, you'll learn the real meaning of Vaya con Dios. show less

Not quite wicked enough for my taste or needs. Or at least it didn't give me much of the words i needed to know or the words i hear--interesting nonetheless.