...
Since man first climbed down from the trees (or was stirred together from a pile of dust—all views are welcome here...) and called back to his mate and his buddies: 'follow me!' ...it has all been about communication.
How to get the loving/hating, ugly/beautiful, 'eat this berry'/'avoid that lion!' thought from your mind to my mind.
Thankfully evolution and/or God engineered the ultimate tool: language. Through a marvelous combination of structure, muscle, gray matter, and trial and error man learned to bring his thoughts to voice.
The Meaning of Tingo: And Other Extraordinary Words from Around the World brings us the detritus of thousand of years of language evolution.
This entire 'language' thing worked rather well originally. Until one group decided they were smarter than those other idiots and went off to talk about them behind their backs. Soon there were many groups, each voice having devolved into a tongue that was vastly different from that of many other groups. This babelization of language lead to a tapestry of languages—vocalizations, grammar, rules, words, meanings—that were as different from each other as the instruments of an orchestra.
It is this cloth, this tapestry, that The Meaning of Tingo:... teases apart. Author Adam Jacot De Boinod has collected unusual words of 150-plus languages from around the world. As a researcher for a British TV quiz show he stumbled across an Albanian dictionary that listed twenty seven words for various styles of both eyebrows and moustaches. This serendipitous discovery soon led to his collecting words and phrases in many other languages that simply had no English equivalent.
From Meeting and Greeting to What's In a Name the words are sorted into categories that cover virtually every human activity from womb to grave. Within a given category chapter are shorter or longer groups of words, sub-chapters so to speak.
Falling in Love is a chapter that features words that define various aspects of attraction, love, coupling, and the ultimate climax (yes, that climax!) of the pursuit of love.
The language of Love notes that the French phrase coup de foudre means "love at first sight (literally, a flash of lightning)." This pattern of citing the word or phrase, its meaning, and its literal translation is repeated throughout the book.
Another phrase I found mildly amusing in this chapter on Love is le petite chauve au col roule, a French phrase meaning, literally, 'the little baldy in a turtleneck.' This phrase in the sub-chapter Penis dialogues. You might guess baldy's identity. A picture I am afraid I shall not lose for quite some time.
Unfortunately, much of the book is not quite as memorable as that meme. With no pronunciation guide it is difficult to 'hear' the words to aid in remembering them. The words and phrases exist in stark isolation, categorized as they are, in no real context. While some are based on thoughts or images that somehow 'reflect' the activity: Folterkammer is a German word meaning "a gym or exercise room (literally, a torture chamber)" most are simply not memorable enough to make a lasting impression on the reader.
Sparsely illustrated, the book does list many false friends. Words that are encountered in other languages that _look_ like English words but mean something entirely different. For instance brat is Russian for 'brother'. Wait, maybe that _would_ be a good translation. Especially for a baby brother.
The Bottom Line
While a good idea, the execution simply does not work in The Meaning of Tingo: And Other Extraordinary Words from Around the World. It seems to this reader that the meat is simply not there. Nothing really stands out after having read through the book . . .well, other than that 'little baldy in a turtleneck' . . . ...:shudder:...
Note: The Amazon shopping link leads to an excellent sampling of some of the content of this book. May or may not be worth a look.
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Certified 'Lean-n-mean' review.
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"Just the facts, ma'am"
Title: The Meaning of Tingo: And Other Extraordinary Words from Around the World
Author: Adam Jacot De Boinod
Publisher: The Penguin Press
Copyright: 2005
Pages: 224
ISBN #: 1594200866
Ages recommended: teen through adult
Reference websites:
The 'homepage' of the book:
http://www.themeaningoftingo.com/
Recommended:
