On August 21, 2013 Ella Frances Sanders published an illustrated blog post titled “11 Untranslatable Words from Other Cultures.” This quickly led to a book deal and Lost in Translation: An Illustrated Compendium of Untranslatable Words from Around the World hit the shelves the following September.

Lost in Translation features 52 words in languages as diverse as Swedish and Hawaiian that have no direct English translation, yet explain concepts that are familiar to people around the world.

Some of my favourite words are:

• Hiraeth (Welsh) “A homesickness for somewhere you cannot return to, the nostalgia and the grief for the lost places of your past, places that never were.”
• Tima (Icelandic) “Not being ready to spend time or money on a specific thing, despite being able to afford it.”
• Kummerspeck (German) “Literally meaning grief-bacon, this word refers to the excess weight we gain from emotional overeating.”

(As I compiled this short list, I wanted to go on and on but decided not to risk committing copyright infringement. If you’re intrigued, check out the whole book!)

Each word is accompanied by a whimsical coloured drawing, like the one illustrating the Norwegian word “palegg” below. On the facing page you’ll find brief commentary, but I prefer to let the definitions and illustrations speak for themselves.

One of the pages that made me snort and shake my head (in a good way) is pictured below, though there is some debate over whether “pisan zapra” is really a Malay term.

Lost in Translation would make a lovely gift for any word-loving friend or relative. Not only is it informative and amusing, the physical book is a nice size (7.8 x 6.8 inches) for flipping through and the coloured backgrounds on the pages, the variety of fonts, and the illustrations all contribute to a charming finished product.

You can also buy prints from the book on the author’s website.

Ella Frances Sanders’ bio states that a second book is under construction. I’m looking forward to what that will be.