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Having searched through 300 dictionaries, 140 websites and numerous books on language, Adam Jacot de Boinod hopes that this book will make you elmosolyodik (Hungarian), break into a smile, or bring on an attack of latterkrampe (Norwegian) convulsive laughter, but that it doesn’t reduce you to gegemena (Rukwangali, Namibia), muttering while sobbing, or even make you jera (Indonesian), so scared by a past experience that one never wants to do it again.
Toujours Tingo, the sequel to the bestselling The Meaning of Tingo, invites you to discover even more bizarre and brilliant words that will change the way you see the world.
Who hasn’t come across a Tantenverführer (German), a young man of excessively good manners you suspect of devious motives (literally, an aunt seducer), or a tyèovka (Czech), a woman who hangs on to the pole next to the bus driver and chats him up? How do we cope in English without shnourkovat’ sya (Russian), when drivers change lanes frequently and unreasonably (literally, to lace boots), or rhwe (Tsonga, South Africa), to sleep on the floor without a mat, and usually drunk and naked?
Drawing on the collective wisdom of over 300 languages, Toujours Tingo explores all kinds of actions, objects, tastes and noises for which English has no direct counterpart. This delightful and intriguing collection offers a fascinating insight into cultures across the globe and, despite our differing languages, the words often reveal that the commonality of human experience remains strong.
Whether you are physiggoomai (Ancient Greek), excited by garlic, or enjoy vóona’haso’he (Cheyenne, USA), to ride a horse all night, there are riches here to charm and amuse everyone.
And for those who don’t already know, tingo is an Easter Island word meaning to borrow objects from a friend’s house, one by one, until there is nothing left
In case you need help deciding to buy, the next page has some sample Travel Words
You can’t spend your whole life flopping around in one place. Sooner or later, whatever traveller’s nerves you may feel, you have to just up sticks and go:
gabkhron (Boro, India) to be afraid of witnessing an adventure.
resfeber (Swedish) to be jittery before a journey.
andlamuka (Tsonga, South Africa) to pack up and depart, especially with all one’s belongings, or for good.
bishu (Chinese) to be away from a hot place in the summer.
campanilismo (Italian) local pride, attachment to the vicinity literally, bell tower-ism: refering to the fact that people do not want to travel so far as to be out of the bell-tower’s sight)
Reindeer’s Piss
A journey’s a journey whether you are going near…
poronkusema (Finnish) the distance equal to how far a reindeer can travel without a comfort break (about 5 kilometres) (literally, reindeer’s piss).
tonbogaeri (Japanese) to go somewhere for business and come right back without staying the night (literally, dragonfly’s return).
or far:
donde San Pedro perdió el guarache (Mexican Spanish) to the back of beyond; at the ends of the Earth (literally where St. Peter lost his sandal).
tuwatauihaiw-ana (Yamana, Chile) to be absent a very long time and thus cease to remember or care for as an emigrant after a long absence from his country and people.
Wanderlust
Some people just can’t wait to get going:
Tapetenwechsel (German) being bored with the place you’re in and wishing to go somewhere else (literally, let’s change the wallpaper)
echarse el pollo (Chilean Spanish) to get out of town (literally, to throw out the chicken)
amenonéhne (Cheyenne, USA) to sing while walking along
henkyoryugaku (Japanese) young women who in their twenties and thirties rebel against social norms and travel abroad to devote time to an eccentric art form such as Balinese dancing (literally, studying abroad in the
wild)
Tagalong
But it can get lonely out there, so consider taking a companion:
uatomoceata (Yamana, Chile) to pass your arm within another’s and bring him along, as friends do
adi (Swahili) to accompany a person part of their way out of politeness Lebensgefahrte (German) one who travels life’s road with you
nochschlepper (Yiddish) a fellow traveller, tagalong, camp follower, pain in the ass (literally, someone who drags along after someone else)
ku-sebeya (Ganda, Uganda) to travel with one’s husband
Buy it now!
Copyright © 2007 Adam Jacot de Boinot
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