In Other Words
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"A delightful treasure house, literally a thesaurus, of linguistic marvels." --from the foreword by bestselling author Simon Winchester A colorfully illustrated collection of more than ninety untranslatable words and phrases and the unique insights they offer into the cultures they come from. Ever racked your brain for a word you're convinced should exist, yet is inexplicably absent from the dictionary? All languages have their limitations-should English fall short, the expression may lie elsewhere. That's where this book comes in: a quirky, international lexicon of linguistic gems that capture cultural untranslatables with satisfying precision. Take for example the Japanese yoko meshi, “a meal eaten sideways,” describing the experience of trying to communicate in an alien tongue, or mono-no-aware, the appreciation of life's sadness. From the distinctive coziness of the Danish hygge, to the unrestrained dis of the Mayan bol (“in-laws” and “stupidity”), to the profound collectivism of the Zulu concept of ubuntu (roughly, “I AM because WE ARE"), these mots justes are grouped according to language and prefaced with insightful overviews of the relevant cultures by linguist Christopher J. Moore. Embellished with 20 entertaining new untranslatable words and phrases and 90 characterful color illustrations by Lan Truong, and with a foreword by Simon Winchester, In Other Words is amusing, profound, and unputdownable--a gorgeously packaged gift book to entertain even the most well-versed polyglot with marvels of language from around the world.
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I read In Other Words: A Language Lover's Guide to the Most Intriguing Words Around the World written by Christopher J. Moore in early 2020.
“Take a trip around the world of words and unlock the meaning of some of the most insightful, intriguing, and satisfying expressions on the planet, for which there are no English equivalents.”
Christopher J. Moore closely studies all the languages of the world to find the most fascinating words and expressions and shares them with us in this book. Moore finds words in French, German, Italian, and other Western European languages; Czech, Russian, and other Eastern European languages; Yiddish; Nordic languages including Danish, Norwegian, and Icelandic; the Middle Eastern languages of Arabic, Turkish, and Persian; African languages; Asian languages; ancient and classical languages; and indigenous languages.
This is the kind of book that we who love words could read for a year.
Or two. Or three.
I immediately knew I wanted to get my own copy of the book. The version I was most interested in was the illustrated version, though, and it took me a while to acquire a copy. Happily, I found one at Daedalus Books last fall, and I shall now share three of my new favorite words and phrases with you.
GOTONG ROYONG
Indonesian (GOT-ong ROI-ongt)
“Indonesians use royong to mean ‘mutual cooperation,' or more precisely, the relationship between a group of people who are committed to accomplishing a task of mutual benefit....The word is almost always used in conjunction with gotong to form a phrase that means ‘to carry a heavy burden together....'“
Sounds like a phrase we could use here in the US...
BEJAKA
Swedish (bay-AH-kah)
“A word that frequently recurs in Swedish and is quite untranslatable outside the Scandinavian and Germanic languages, it encapsulates a whole philosophy. Livbejakelse consists of liv, meaning ‘life,' and bejakelse, meaning ‘saying yes,' hence ‘affirmation of life.' Bejaka means an enthusiastic, optimistic, or joyful attitude, and, when applied to life, signifies far more than just agreeing to live. Within this one word we sense a greeting — a welcome to all the vicissitudes that life may bring and an understanding acceptance of people and things as they are.”
Oh, I like this one a lot.
SHIBUI
Japanese (shib-OO-ee)
“Shibui describes an aesthetic that only time can reveal. As we become older and more marked by the riches of life's experience, we radiate with a beauty that stems from becoming fully ourselves. The term can be applied to almost anything — a person, a house, or even a piece of aged wood.”
Perfect, right? “We radiate with a beauty that stems from becoming fully ourselves.”
I love linguistic and language
It was a wonderful little collection that left me wanting more. I'm glad it included some indigenous languages of North America, but I was also hoping to see either American English or Canadian example, as well as one from South America.
I was a little surprised the entry of billabong omitted that we have an English word for the same concept: oxbow lake.
I love this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a3r-cG8Wic) “Why Rivers Curve”, at the end it mentions that many languages have a word for a river leaving these u-shaped lakes/ponds. In English it's an oxbow lake, but in Australia it's bilabong, and many different regions have their own word for the concept.
