Penguin Books

PenguinBooks

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