Adam Jacot de Boinod

I Never Knew There Was a Word For It

  • I Never Knew There Was a Word For It

  • 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!'

The Wonder of Whiffling
The Wonder of Whiffling
Adam Jacot de Boinod
Toujours Tingo
Toujours Tingo
Adam Jacot de Boinod

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 book The Meaning of Tingo and hit follow-up Toujours Tingo and has now turned his attention to his mother tongue in The Wonder of Whiffling.

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