Lost in Translation: An Illustrated Compendium of Untranslatable Words from Around the World

Take a Fika and enjoy the Gezellig. This little (8 inch x 9 inch) hard back coffee table book is a delightful little gem. Beautifully illustrated and intriguingly informative, learn scores of words from several languages that have not exact English equivalent. A must-have for any bibliophile.

I thought the word choices were intriguing, + the illustrations were whimsical charming. In the Kindle it is frustrating to have to tap each illustration and zoom in to see it better since this book is focused on the illustrations. I know that's how lots of Kindle books are formatted, so it's not really a criticism of the book. I would like to see the hardcover version because I think the reading experience would really be wonderful. Kudos for creating a book that I will re-read often! People who enjoy reading, writing, and learning about other cultures will love this book.

What a wonderful gift. Charming illustrations paired with a wonderful list of words you probably don't know. Favorites included tsundoku, the Japanese word for "leaving a book unread after buying it, typically piled up together with other unread books". Everyone loved passing this around and trying out the new words. Something for everyone, especially word lovers.

Of course, as a writer, I love language--and I'm always looking for that perfect word to reflect an emotion or action. This brief book is filled with perfect words collected from around the globe. It's also a little peek into the soul of different cultures. While it's generally agreed that English has the most words (according to Bill Bryson's book 'Mother Tongue', English has about 200,000 words in common use, German 184,000 and French 100,000), sometimes it's the magic of that one word that can suddenly shift your perspective to understand something in a truly extraordinary way. And sometimes it's not about being raised to the sublime, but rather about the efficiency of economy. Why use 10 words when you can use one? Every word is included with a definition and charming illustration by the author. The facing page reiterates the word and definition again, with a short commentary. Similar to The Book of Awesome, this book will help lift your spirits as it reminds you of the uniqueness of being human. My favorite word? Mangata. The road-like reflection of the moon in the water.

I bought several to give as gifts, in addition to one for myself. This book is lovely, charming, funny and profound. Every home should have (at least) one! I hope these amazing words go into circulation around the world.

I met Lost in Translation in my dentist's waiting room. This isn't a "read it front to back" book. It's a collection of words, in many languages, that make it easy to say, "yeah, wish I could use that word, because it's just how I feel sometimes." It offers snacks of words, a word here, a word there. For example, just now I just opened the book to a random page. There's "Goya". "Goya is the realm of make-believe, of amazing stories that make you forget what you're doing, and where you are - stories that give you wings and send you soaring across mountain ranges that you never knew existed, or voyaging across oceans even though you don't know how to sail. URDU/noun" Not a word you might use in everyday conversation unless you speak Urdu (in Pakistan and parts of India), but a nice little word snack. The artwork and overall presentation is well done, with watercolor illustrations. When my dentist closed his practice, it was time to buy this book. And I did. (Excerpt used without the author's permission)

a fun book about words that exist in some languages, not in others. It tells us a little about our culture and that of other places around the globe

The whole book only takes about 20 minutes to read through. Nice and interesting but gives no pronunciation of the words or context in how they might be used in a sentence. No real depth. Fun book to maybe leave on coffee table for a bit or in a guest bathroom.

AMO este libro. Las ilustraciones son el acompañante perfecto.

訳書「翻訳できない世界のことば」の原著である。 日本語にできない各国の文化や思想に根差した発想からくる言葉たちが並んでいるが、決して読みにくいというものではない。 非常に平易な英文で構成されており中学・高校レベルの英語力で十分読み解ける。 またその解説からお国が知れるので教養の一助にもなる。 ただし文体は若干読みにくく慣れが必要。

Pequena coleção de 50 palavras "intraduzíveis", coletadas em diversos idiomas, e acompanhadas de uma ilustração e breve descrição. É um livro que dá para atravessar em 20 minutos, a não ser que o leitor se perca em devaneios sobre a poesia em algum dos termos. Como era de se esperar, está lá a 'saudade', mas também uma outra palavra específica da variante brasileira do português, e que eu não sabia ter esse caráter único: o cafuné.

Das Buch ist ein kleiner Leckerbissen - hardcover - liegt gut in der Hand - schöne illustrationen - mit Liebe gemacht! Für Sprachenliebhaber und Linguisten ein Muss! Schade, dass keine Lautschrift dabei ist...trotzdem 5 Sterne

What a clever little collection of words from around the world. I bought it for a 90 year young's Birthday present, it was exceedingly well received. The illustrations are clear and witty. Thank you