Customer Reviews

The Deeper Meaning of Liff: A Dictionary of Things There Aren't Any Words for Yet--But There Ought to Be

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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?

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.

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!

This is a great bathroom reader. I find that the references to geographical locations as the word names a bit off, but I imagine inventing new words would be quite challenging.

Really funny and amusing. It is a new delight of the many that Douglas Adams have been providing to his readers. Praise also to John Lloyd, whose Spitting Image are also a delight to watch. I strongly recommend this book.

This book is wonderful- I really loved it and laughed out loud more than once. It' not for everybody, but it does have a wonderful sense of humor and it describes perfectly several situations you have lived trough. Too bad for the very British ones that I missed, not being British. But overall a wonderful read.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I kept finding things in it I could use in everyday sentences. Who hasn't experienced the sensation of woking?

I had heard of this product through one of Adams's other books - Salmon of Doubt, so I kind of had an idea of what it was about. Anyone who enjoys Pratchett or Monty Python will get a kick out of this book.

This book was superb, anyone who is a fan of Adams will appreciate it's wit, it's ingenuity, and it's intense sarcasm. Absolutely necessary to complete you Douglas Adams collection.

In a hurry stressed out... just read a couple quick definitions it will lighten your mood it does mine

I am a big fan of Dougles Adams books, at least in general.

But this book is, at best, only marginally funny. Others have explored this topic, and with better results.

The problem here is that Adams tries to make funny sounding words for things that don't have a name (like that little twist between link sausages), but constrains himself to using the names of small cities and towns from around the world. Occasionally, he hits a home run, but most of the words are strike outs.

Disapointed.

PS the 'name' for the link between sausages is kerry. Why, I don't know, and I have no idea why some think this is humorous.