The Deeper Meaning of Liff - Douglas Adams [0]
Contents
Title Page
Prefaces
Maps
How to Pronounce the Phonetic Bits
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
Y
Z
Appendix
Index of Meanings
About the Author
Footnotes
Copyright Page
Prefaces
Preface to The Meaning of Liff, 1983
In Life*1 there are many hundreds of common experiences, feelings, situations and even objects which we will all know and recognize, but for which no word exists. On the other hand, the world is littered with thousands of spare words which spend their time doing nothing but loafing about on signposts pointing at places. Our job, as we see it, is to get these words down off the signposts and into the mouths of babes and sucklings and so on, where they can start earning their keep in everyday conversation and make a more positive contribution to society.
Douglas Adams, John Lloyd, Malibu, 1982
Preface to the 1984 Reprint
What we said in the first preface pretty much stands, I think.
Douglas Adams, New York, 1983
Preface to the Second 1984 Reprint
Can’t think of anything much to add to the previous preface. It’s nice, here, though.
Douglas Adams, Seychelles, 1984
Is it?
John Lloyd, Birmingham, 1984
Preface to the 1986 Reprint
There was a point I was going to make in this preface but it’s one of those things that you just can’t remember when you actually sit down to write it.
Douglas Adams, Madagascar, 1985
Preface to the 1987 Reprint
No. It came back to me briefly when I was in Brazil, but I didn’t have a pen with me.
Douglas Adams, Hong Kong, 1986
Preface to the 1988 Reprint
Did you get the preface I faxed you from New Zealand?
Douglas Adams, Zaire, 1988
Preface to the 1989 Reprint
No.
John Lloyd, Lambeth, 1989
Preface to the Second 1989 Reprint
Pity. That was a good one. Can’t remember how it was now.
Douglas Adams, Beijing, 1989
Preface to the Third 1989 Reprint
Did we make the point about all these words actually being real place names?
Douglas Adams, Mauritius, 1989
Preface to the Fourth 1989 Reprint
Yes.
John Lloyd, Lambeth, 1989
Preface to the First Edition of The Deeper Meaning of Liff, 1990
Well, there’s not much we need to add to that then, really, is there?
Douglas Adams, John Lloyd, Sydney, 1990
Maps
How to Pronounce the Phonetic Bits
VOWELS
A: should be pronounced like the “a” in “grab”
except for:
ah: as in “father”
air: as in “hairy”
ar: as in “car”
aw: as in “awful”
ay: as in “day”
E: should be pronounced like the short “e” in “get”
except for:
ee: as in “been”
er: short “er” sound as at the end of “mother”
ew: long “you” sound as at the front of “Uganda”
I: is short as in “antidisestablishmentarianism”
igh: represents the long “i” as in “sigh”
Where “igh” would look completely silly, a long “i” between two consonants is represented by “y.” Thus: FIREFIGHTERS is not rendered as FIGHR-FIGH-ters, but as FYR-FYT-erz, which is much better.
O: is usually short as in “pot”
except for:
oh: as in “zone”
oo: as in “food”
oy: as in “boy”
U: “u” sounds are rendered by the short “u” in “fun”
except for:
ul: sort of swallowed like the “le” sound in “fiddle”
ur: longer “er” than in “mother,” more like in “Ben-Hur”
uu: like the long “u” as in “moose”
ew: like the even longer “u” in “food”
ou: like the interminably long “u” in “youuuuuuuu bastard”
CONSONANTS
B: as in “bug”
CH: as in “church”
D: as in “dog”
DJ: like the “j” sound in “hedge” (used when “j” on its own might be ambiguous)
F: as in “fat”
G: hard “g” as in “get”
GH: hard “g” as in “ghost” (used when “g” on its own would be ambiguous)
The soft “g” as in “gin” is represented by “j” (see below).
H: as in “hill” J: as in “jeep” K: as in “key” KH: as in Scottish “loch” L: as in Scottish “loch” Good grief, there are a hell of a lot of these things to remember, aren’t there? M: as in “mint” N: as in “knee” P: as in “pan” R: as in “rug” S: as in “sat” T: as in “antidisestablishmentarianism” V: as in “pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanocoriosis” W: as in “wayzgoose” Y: as in “wayzgoose”
Z: as in