Lost in Translation

A gorgeous illustrated compendium of untranslatable words from around the world.

Did you know that the Japanese have a word to express the way sunlight filters through the leaves of trees? Or, that there's a Swedish word that means a traveller's particular sense of anticipation before a trip? This book includes a collection full of surprises that will make you savour the elusive, untranslatable words that make up a language.

Did you know that the Japanese have a word to express the way sunlight filters through the leaves of trees?

Or, that there’s a Swedish word that means a traveller’s particular sense of anticipation before a trip?

Lost in Translation, a New York Times bestseller, brings the nuanced beauty of language to life with over 50 beautiful ink illustrations.

The words and definitions range from the lovely, such as goya, the Urdu word to describe the transporting suspension of belief that can occur in good storytelling, to the funny, like the Malay word pisanzapra, which translates as 'the time needed to eat a banana' .

This is a collection full of surprises that will make you savour the wonderful, elusive, untranslatable words that make up a language.