Author Adam Jacot de Boinod

Adam Jacot de Boinod’s bestselling book The Meaning of Tingo boasts a bizarre collection of extraordinary foreign words from over 300 languages. For example: ‘bakku-shan’, Japanese for a girl who appears pretty from behind but not from the front. Or ‘Backpfeifengesicht’, German for a face that cries out for a fist in it.

Jacot de Boinod’s hunt for hilarious expressions began when he worked as a researcher for the BBC programme QI and trawled through hundreds of dictionaries from around the world, discovering an astonishing array of linguistic oddities.

In his latest offering, The Wonder of Whiffling, he turns his attention to interesting and unusual words from Old and Middle English and Tudor-Stuart, through the rural dialects collected by Victorian lexicographers, the argot of 19th century criminals, slang from two world wars, right up to our contemporary jargon.

His personal favourite word? ‘Nakhur, a Persian word meaning: a camel that won’t give milk until her nostrils are tickled.’

Where do you live in London and why?

‘I live in Notting Hill which has always been a very cosmopolitan area with the great plus that anyone in the world could come out of its tube station. It has lovely gardens, is near two parks and a good walk from the West End. It has many cinemas and restaurants and has houses and streets of varying shapes and sizes.’

From where do your quirky book ideas come from, and how did it all begin?

‘My interest in the quirkiness of foreign words was triggered when one day, working as a researcher for the BBC, I picked up a weighty Albanian dictionary to discover that they have no less than 27 words for eyebrow and the same number for different types of moustache, ranging from a ‘mustaqe madh’, or bushy, to a ‘mustaqe posht’, one which droops down at both ends. That’s how my book The Meaning of Tingo was born.’

What was the creative process of writing and researching The Wonder of Whiffling?

‘Having written two books called Tingo on all the words that English lacks, I wanted this book to be about the amazing and inventive range of vocabulary that does exist in English our marvellous language.

‘I was unable to go near a bookshop or library without sniffing out the often dusty shelf where the foreign language dictionaries were kept. I started to collect favourites. Many described strange or unbelievable things.’

Which areas of London do you find most inspiring?

‘The East End, Chelsea, Richmond Park and Docklands.’

Where in London would you recommend everyone visit at least once?

‘The Wallace Collection, the Cabinet War Rooms, Lord’s Cricket Ground and Borough Market.’

Do you have any tips for aspiring writers?

‘Only to bother if you are truly passionate about your subject – otherwise the odds are against it actually happening.’

www.thewonderofwhiffling.com