Monday's Meaning of Liff...

[MoeFOH]

Yes, Liff, that's not a typo. The Meaning Of Liff was published in 1983 by Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy fame) and John Lloyd (Black Adder fame, etc) and is a little book that's touted as a "dictionary of things that there aren't any words for yet" (you'll get the idea from the example below). Instead of creating new words for these things, the authors used existing place names. For those who don't know of it, I highly recommend picking up a copy. Hilarious little read. I often go back to it when in need of a laugh from time to time. 

So I thought as a little Monday kickstart of humour I'd pop up a word a week from the book. As I'm away at present, I'm relying on Internet excerpts, so I'm hoping they're accurate. Anyhow, starting at Z and working backwards, here we go... Enjoy! 

 

Zagreb (n.): A stranger who suddenly clutches an intimate part of your body and then pretends they did it to prevent themselves falling.

 

[Habana Mike]

Points for using the word in a sentence.

I "accidentally" zagrebbed a woman's breast as I "stumbled" on the edge of the carpet.

[MoeFOH]

1 minute ago, Habana Mike said:

Points for using the word in a sentence.

I "accidentally" zagrebbed a woman's breast as I "stumbled" on the edge of the carpet.

Curiously enough, you happen to hit on the most common usage of the word first go. 

[ayepatz]

I love Douglas Adams. Such a simple and hilarious idea to use place names. A sadly missed genius.

I remember reading Hitchhiker on the tube in London, and dissolving into fits of laughter when I got to the Vogon poetry. Almost everybody looked at me like I was insane, but a couple sitting diagonally opposite clocked what I was reading, smiled, and nodded knowingly.

 

[MoeFOH]

5 hours ago, ayepatz said:

I love Douglas Adams. Such a simple and hilarious idea to use place names. A sadly missed genius.

I remember reading Hitchhiker on the tube in London, and dissolving into fits of laughter when I got to the Vogon poetry. Almost everybody looked at me like I was insane, but a couple sitting diagonally opposite clocked what I was reading, smiled, and nodded knowingly.

 

Too true, Iain. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy was the first book I fell in love with. The whole series (those written by him) is a holdall of brilliant and hilarious concepts. Magic stuff. 

Such a shame we lost Douglas at just 49 years of age. One of the great comedic novelists.