Not the Meaning of Life but of Tingo [NOT Twingo]
May 5, 2012
Looking for new ways to read books, I investigated again the Overdrive app which on smartphones makes it easier to borrow ebooks from public libraries as opposed to buying ebooks from Amazon, downloading public domain materials or articles or even putting together your own stuff.
In the course of this activity, I came across, borrowed and downloaded, an ebook entitled “The Meaning of Tingo” by Adam Jacot De Boinod, published in 2005 by Penguin. Its subtitle goes some way towards describing it: “and other extraordinary words from around the world”.
I very quickly came across a French word “serein” the meaning of which, as described in the book, I had never heard of: “the rain that falls from a cloudless sky”. I was astonished. The meaning French people will know is “cloudless” and “serene”. Of course, I rushed to check in various dictionaries. It is a noun, mentioned in dictionary.com, where it says: “Meteorology. Fine rain falling after sunset from a sky in which no clouds are visible. In the fr.wiktionary.org, it goes on to say that it is mostly a summer occurrence triggered by the condensation that the absence of the sun causes in the air in damp valleys.
I now feel more serene about it.
Do you want to know a bit more?
Mustaqe ... : Apparently, Albanians “have no fewer than twenty-seven words” for moustache. In Persian, a not necessarily well-known word, nakhur is “a camel that won't give milk until her nostrils have been tickled”. Snap, crackle and pop, the noise made by Rice Crispies in Great Britain, becomes Knisper! Knasper! Knusper! in Germany.
Adam Jacot De Boinod’s blog: themeaningoftingo.blogspot.co.uk/
Any extraordinary words you might like to share?
In the course of this activity, I came across, borrowed and downloaded, an ebook entitled “The Meaning of Tingo” by Adam Jacot De Boinod, published in 2005 by Penguin. Its subtitle goes some way towards describing it: “and other extraordinary words from around the world”.
I very quickly came across a French word “serein” the meaning of which, as described in the book, I had never heard of: “the rain that falls from a cloudless sky”. I was astonished. The meaning French people will know is “cloudless” and “serene”. Of course, I rushed to check in various dictionaries. It is a noun, mentioned in dictionary.com, where it says: “Meteorology. Fine rain falling after sunset from a sky in which no clouds are visible. In the fr.wiktionary.org, it goes on to say that it is mostly a summer occurrence triggered by the condensation that the absence of the sun causes in the air in damp valleys.
I now feel more serene about it.
Do you want to know a bit more?
Mustaqe ... : Apparently, Albanians “have no fewer than twenty-seven words” for moustache. In Persian, a not necessarily well-known word, nakhur is “a camel that won't give milk until her nostrils have been tickled”. Snap, crackle and pop, the noise made by Rice Crispies in Great Britain, becomes Knisper! Knasper! Knusper! in Germany.
Adam Jacot De Boinod’s blog: themeaningoftingo.blogspot.co.uk/
Any extraordinary words you might like to share?
Posted by JWD.
