The Meaning of Liff - Douglas Adams

I remember when I first found this book; it belongs to my Dad, a present from his Mum, and he didn't want me reading it because I think I was only 5 and it had the word 'fuck' in it. But i found it on a shelf one day, and opened the front cover, and saw a note to my dad - "Dear Paul, may you never be bothered by Scrabsters!". From that point on I decided I liked this book! I've never read it all the way through, but I've probably seen all of it by looking at random pages, and it's not the sort of book you read all the way through. For anyone who has never heard of this book, it is basically a dictionary of words the Oxford English Dictionary forgot to ...  Read the complete review

If you appreciate the humour of Hitch-hiker's Guide To The Galaxy and the adventures of Dirk Gently, the Holistic Detective, then this is an excellent addition to your collection of Douglas Adams' books. Co-written with John Lloyd, the idea behind The Meaning Of Liff is a simple one. There are many occasions and events that simply have no name to describe them. There are just as many marvellous place names hanging around on signposts all over the world, doing nothing more than announcing the direction you need to take to get there. Combine the two and you have the reference point that is, The Meaning Of Liff. Let me elucidate further (great ...  Read the complete review

Who thinks of these things? Let's find out... Douglas Adams is known for The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy or Dirk Gently and who also had his hand in with The writing of many Monty Python Sketches. John Lloyd is a BBC TV producer for the BBC series Blackadder. So then they joined forces they created this handy pocketsize reference book. But firstly, what is the meaning of Liff? Let's have a look what is says in The Meaning of Liff: "LIFF (N.) A BOOK, THE CONTENTS OF WHICH ARE TOTALLY BELIED BY ITS COVER. FOR INSTANCE, ANY BOOK THAT BEARS THE WORDS 'THIS BOOK WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE.'" ...  Read the complete review

The meaning of Liff is for Adams fanatics and aspiring observational comedians only. It has no connection with any of the Hitchhikers' guide books. Co-written with John Lloyd it takes the form of a dictionary of words that don't exist. So what exactly do I mean by that? Well maybe the best way to explain it is with a couple of examples... MOFFAT (n. tailoring term)-That part of your coat which is designed to be sat on by the person next to you on the bus. TODDING (vb.) - The business of talking amiably and aimlessly to the barman at the local. WRABNESS (n.) - The feeling after having tried to dry oneself with a damp towel. ...  Read the complete review

Mostly Pointless ========== In 1755 Dr Samuel Johnson published the first dictionary of the English language. Since then the great and the good have made many revisions. There are still two things wrong with the English dictionary. 1. There are many things that there are still no word for. 2. It's not very funny. Fortunately for us there is now a new dictionary that addresses these problems, it's called "The Meaning Of Liff". The book is layed out the same as a regular dictionary. Most of but not all of the words in the dictionary are place names, this is probably just for convenience as it's ...  Read the complete review