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

Lost in Translation: An Illustrated Compendium of Untranslatable Words from Around the World (Sept. 16, 2014) by Ella Frances Sanders.

It is a long title, but it is expressing a lot. As the author asks right away in her introduction, “How do you introduce the untranslatable?” Mostly you say some words and launch right into the compendium of words. That’s really what this is. It’s slim as far as books go. Each word has its own spread, and there are only 52 “untranslatable” words. Untranslatable doesn’t mean there are no words to describe this collection of international words. It means that there isn’t a simple, one-or-two-word direct translation (e.g. ¡Hola! = Hello!, Grazie = Thank you).

            To entice any logophiles out there or those who are just plain curious, here is a sampling of what you will find in this book.

1)      The next time you notice sunlight filtering through the trees, you are noting Komorebi (Japanese) n.: The sunlight that filters through the leaves of the trees.

2)     The Finns must really like their reindeer, which would make Frozen’s Sven very proud. Next time you see a real or animated reindeer, you can wonder about Poronkusema (Finnish) n.: The distance a reindeer can comfortably travel before taking a break.

3)     This one is for all the married women out there who’ve ever received a gift from a spouse with a guilty conscience. The word Drachenfutter (German) n.: Literally, “dragon-fodder.” The gift a husband gives his wife when he’s trying to make up for bad behavior.

            I LOVED this little book. Then again, I love words, so this makes sense. I was intrigued from the first “untranslatable” word that I saw. The greatest thing about this book aren’t the fun words (though the words are great), but the cultural importance of it all. Studying languages is challenging and traveling to other countries is expensive, but this little compendium can open up vistas of awareness. The words introduce you to other languages without the stress of memorizing them, and it’s fun, fascinating and sneakily educational all at the same time! I do wish there were page numbers, and the illustrations are quirky (this is not a bad thing). I think the font could’ve been cleaner – instead of looking like someone wrote it – but that is a little nitpick. This book is terrific, and I hope it does well enough that the author is encouraged to compile more such compendiums.