You naeka person!

Did you know that people in Indonesia have a word that means 'to take off your clothes in order to dance'? That there is a German word for the disappointment you feel when something you were apprehensive about didn't turn out as badly as it might have? And my favourite: the Malay word for 'combing one's hair in anger'. This man has gone and compiled a dictionary of the world's most apt words that describe really obscure and esoteric activities, emotions and events.

Even more hilarious are the alternative answers in Guardian's quiz on the book. For the Indonesian word neko-neko, which actually means... well take the quiz... one of the options they have invented ( I presume) is 'A woman who appears pretty when seen from behind but not from the front'. Unless there IS a word to describe just this in Indonesian, in which case they are the most brilliant race of earth.

I don't know if any Indian words make the list, but am certain that some Bengali ones would have been shoo-ins. Take the much-quoted 'naeka' for example. I don't think there is a word in any language of the world that encompasses all the nuances of this word that describes a coy, sometimes-scheming young woman who is very likely to flutter her eyelashes at men and speaks in a typical vocal intonation that can be extremely grating on the nerves. Or my grandmother's favourite 'dhankach', as in 'don't stand there like a dhankach', which essentially means a person who keeps lounging around foolishly and can't figure out how things are to be done and consequently gets on the nerves of the person who is rushing about doing things in their usual efficient way.

There are many, many more. Readers are welcome to pitch in. Till then, let me speak to my grandmother and get back.