Toujours Tingo

Oct 5, 2024 10:35 PM

Author:Adam Jacot de Boinod

Toujours Tingo

Why would Germans accuse you of being like the donkey getting cross with a rabbit? Who would a Spaniard tell to go and fry asparagus? And when might the French claim they are without a radish?

Furthering your knowledge of the world’s unusual idioms, Toujours Tingo will also explain how ordering ‘lamb’ in Ethiopia may see a cow delivered to your table, and how politicians in Sweden may be encouraged occasionally to göra en hel Pudel (‘do a full poodle’) with some humble apologising. Covering such wide-ranging linguistic necessities as arguing, raising children, working and dining out, and filling all those gaps that English leaves thoughtlessly unplugged, this book’s charm would – for Russians at least – be ežiku ponjatno (obvious even to a hedgehog).

Reviews

... many giggle-making boo-boos.

—— Spectator

... a delicious concoction of mangled English taken from dodgy menus, hotel signs and well-meaning (but sadly misguided) tourist attractions.

—— Wanderlust

No one writes about language as clearly as Steven Pinker, and this is his best book yet

—— Financial Times

Immensely readable and stimulating. Pinker is a master at making complex ideas palatable

—— Independent

Awesome ... Pinker writes lucidly and elegantly, and leavens the text with scores of perfectly judged anecdotes, jokes, cartoons and illustrations

—— Daily Mail

Great editor: great teacher of editors

—— Peter Stothard, editor of the Times Literary Supplement

Harry Evans is the journalist we all wanted to be. He could write, sub, design, re-write, think - everything short of standing on the streets and selling the paper himself. Essential English has for generations been the bible of any aspiring Harry Evans. It is as fresh today as it was when it was first published nearly thirty years ago

—— Alan Rusbridger, Editor-in-Chief, Guardian

Welcome back to the standard and brilliant text on written English for journalism. Good writing is good writing, and Harold Evans is a good writer, when all around are letting standards slip. Essential English should be essential reading for all journalism students, and all journalists who seek to improve their writing

—— Peter Cole, Professor of Journalism, University of Central Lancashire

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