justify;">Do you believe that English is the most elaborate language, with a word for everything?
Than tell me what is the single word of Hindi word “Makkhichoos”? Of course, if you know the meaning you can say “Makkhicoos is someone so miserly that if a fly falls into their tea they’ll fish it out and suck it dry before throwing it away” but cannot say it one English word.
Toujours Tingo is a collection of bizarre words and phrases from over 300 foreign languages for which English has no direct counterpart. Some of my favourite examples from Adam’s collection are:
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“Tantenverführer” – (German) A young man with suspiciously good manners.
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“Trennungsagentur”- (German) someone hired by a woman to tell her boyfriend he has been dumped.
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"Tingo"- (Easter Island) Taking a neighbour's possessions under cover of night one by one until there are none left.
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“Yubisakibijin”- (Japan) A woman who spends rather too much of her salary having her fingernails done.
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Hira hira: (Japan) the fear you get from walking into a decrepit old house in the middle of the night.
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Momma ko ene: (Cheyenne: A language spoken by North American Indian) for having red eyes from crying over your boyfriend marrying someone else.
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Lolo: Used by Hawaiian for someone who would gladly give you the time if only they could read a clock
justify;">The book is based on extensive research of dictionaries, websites and literature and filled with illustrations and intriguing pieces of information on each of these extraordinary words.
And at the end, in the word of The Mirror “it is an extraordinary book, exploring the areas where English fails us... try these weird and wonderful words on for size.