Search Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »
My library | Help | Advanced Book Search | Web History | Sign in

Books

I Never Knew There Was a Word For It

Front Cover
4 Reviews
Penguin Adult, Aug 5, 2010 - Humor - 800 pages
LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS. From 'shotclog' a Yorkshire term for a companion only tolerated because he is paying for the drinks to Albanian having 29 words to describe different kinds of eyebrows, the languages of the world are full of amazing, amusing and illuminating words and expressions that will improve absolutely everybody's quality of life. All they need is this book! This bumper volume gathers all three of Adam Jacot de Boinod's acclaimed books about language - "The Wonder of Whiffling", "The Meaning of Tingo" and "Toujours Tingo" (their fans include everyone from Stephen Fry to Michael Palin) - into one highly entertaining, keenly priced compendium. As Mariella Frostup said 'You'll never be lost for words again'.

What people are saying - Write a review

Review: I Never Knew There Was a Word for It

User Review  - Rhian Davies - Goodreads

I bought this book because I am a massive word geek and I am currently running a blog about strange and obscure words. It's a fascinating read, however I was disappointed to find several mistakes. One ... Read full review

Review: I Never Knew There Was a Word for It

User Review  - moshimoshineko - Goodreads

Some of the creditations to languages have to be more closely edited. Also, some of the expressions are outdated or very rarely used. Interesting book, though. Read full review

Related books

Other editions - View all

About the author (2010)

Adam Jacot de Boinod, hunter of perfect and obscure bon mots, is a true linguistic bowerbird (a person who collects an astonishing array of sometimes useless objects). He trawled the languages of the world for exotic specimens in his bestselling books The Wonder of Whiffling, The Meaning of Tingo and hit follow-up Toujours Tingo.

Bibliographic information