PenguinBooks
Click here to visit Penguin AustraliaClick here to visit Penguin CanadaClick here to visit Penguin ChinaClick here to visit Penguin IndiaClick here to visit Penguin IrelandClick here to visit Penguin New ZealandClick here to visit Penguin South AfricaClick here to visit Penguin.com (USA)

Test your knowledge of the wonderful world of words ...

Choose one meaning from each of the following.
1) Farshpiler - Yiddish
An easily-noticed wig

A thickly-woven blanket to put on your bed

A fool who has lost all his money gambling

2) Karoshi - Japanese
Dance to honour your ancestors

Death from overwork

Food poisoning from sushi

3) Plimpplamppletteren - Dutch
Skimming stones

Sound of a beer being poured into a glass

A particularly fine windmill

4) Mbuki-mvuki - Bantu, Indonesia
To kill a pig for a festival

To climb a volcano without stopping for breath

To take off your clothes in order to dance

5) Olla ketunhanta kainalossa - Finnish (Literally, to have a fox tail under your armpits)
To have ulterior motives

To run very quickly

To have an itch you can't scratch

6) Tingo - Pascuense, Easter Islands
A board game played by women whilst balancing on one leg

To spend time lazing under a statue

To take the objects one desires from the house of a friend, one at a time, by asking to borrow them
submit
Send this page to a friend Send this page to a friend