33 of 35 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Save the language - recycle place names!, Dec 6 2000
By Primoz Peterlin - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Deeper Meaning of Liff: A Dictionary of Things That There Aren't Any Words for Yet, but 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?
18 of 20 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
good, Aug 31 1999
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Deeper Meaning of Liff: A Dictionary of Things That There Aren't Any Words for Yet, but 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????, Sep 10 1998
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Deeper Meaning of Liff: A Dictionary of Things That There Aren't Any Words for Yet, but 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!
