The Deeper Meaning of Liff: A Dictionary of Things That There Aren't Any Words for Yet [Paperback]

Douglas Adams (Author), John Lloyd (Author), Bert Kitchen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 9, 1990

The updated, revised edition of "The Meaning of Liff", with illustrations from "Private Eye" cartoonist Bert Kitchen.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Douglas Adams created all the various and contradictory manifestations of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy: radio, novels, TV, computer game, stage adaptations, comic book and bath towel. He lectured and broadcast around the world and was a patron of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and Save the Rhino International. Douglas Adams was born in Cambridge, UK and lived with his wife and daughter in Islington, London, before moving to Santa Barbara, California, where he died suddenly in 2001. After Douglas died the movie of Hitchhiker moved out of development hell into the clear uplands of production, using much of Douglas' original script and ideas. Douglas shares the writing credit for the movie with Karey Kirkpatrick. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan (November 9, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0330316060
• ISBN-13: 978-0330316064
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,079,450 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Save the language - recycle place names!, December 6, 2000

By 

Primoz Peterlin - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Deeper Meaning of Liff: A Dictionary of Things There Aren't Any Words for Yet- But There Ought to Be (Hardcover)

The idea behind The Meaning of Liff, first published in 1983, as well as The Deeper Meaning of Liff, which followed seven years later, is actually quite simple. As the authors put it: there are hundreds of common experiences, feelings, situations and even objects which we all know and recognize, but for which no word exists. On the other hand, the world is littered with thousands of spare words doing nothing but loafing about on signposts pointing at places.

Douglas Adams - the one of the Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy fame - and John Lloyd have done their best trying to pair the two. Just for the gusto, here's an example of dictionary entry: Wyoming (ptcpl.vb.) Moving in hurried desperation from one cubicle to another in a public lavatory trying to find one which has a lock on the door, a seat on the bowl and no brown streaks on the seat.

Although The Deeper Meaning of Liff is significantly expanded in size over the original, I guess I would choose the latter. While The Meaning of Liff mostly covers place names from the Britain, the expansions seem to be predominantly reaching abroad, resulting in somewhat diluted compendium. After all, there is some logic that English place names are fitting best in an English dictionary, isn't it?

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars good, August 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Deeper Meaning of Liff: A Dictionary of Things There Aren't Any Words for Yet- But There Ought to Be (Hardcover)

I have only been able to read this book by uploading it from different websites. However, in response to the question of WHERE CAN I FIND THE FIRST ONE? you already have it. I've seen reviews and summaries that explain that the deeper meaning of liff is just the original meaning of liff but with extra entries. Realizing this has cleared up a lot of confusion on my part, and i hope it helps out others.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Where can I find the first one????, September 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Deeper Meaning of Liff: A Dictionary of Things There Aren't Any Words for Yet- But There Ought to Be (Hardcover)

Hi, I read this book, every last word of it, and I LOVED IT! It's different. I let my friends read it, too, and then force-fed them all his other books! I love Douglas Adams' writing, so maybe I'm a little biased, but I recommend this book to anybody who likes wit!