Lost in Translation, by Ella France Sanders

Have you ever been reading something and the author mentions a foreign word, and says "this is literally translated as," and goes into several sentences of explanation?  Well, sometimes a single word in one language doesn't have a direct parallel in other languages.  Ella France Sanders's beautiful book Lost in Translation takes a number of these words from a variety of languages and describes and illustrates the rich meaning to be found.

Some of my favorites:

Boketto (Japanese): gazing vacantly into the distance without thinking about anything specific.

Ubuntu (Nguni Bantu): I find my worth in you and you find your worth in me.  Or, I am what I am because of who we all are.

And some a little more mundane but amusing:

Karelu (Tulu): the mark left on the skin by wearing something tight.

And some very practical, depending on your setting:

Poronkusema (Finnish): the distance a reindeer can comfortably travel before taking a break.

Word lovers will get a kick out of Lost in Translation.  The lovely drawings and lively commentary bring these obscure foreign words to life.  They may not make it into your everyday vocabulary, but you can file them away for when your own language doesn't have quite the right word for what you want to say.



Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the complimentary electronic review copy!