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Biting the Wax Tadpole by Elizabeth Little

Biting the Wax Tadpole

Confessions of a Language Fanatic

Elizabeth Little

Random House Publishing Group · Print & ebook · November 11, 2008

When Chinese shopkeepers tried to find a written equivalent of Coca-Cola, one set of characters they chose was pronounced “ke-kou ke-la.” It sounded right, but it literally translated as “bite the wax tadpole.” Language, like travel, is always stranger than we expect and often more beautiful than we imagine.

Grammar & PunctuationLanguage HumorLinguisticsshort story
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Who it’s for
A playful, accessible tour of world languages finds unexpected beauty in the rules behind everyday words.
Themes
Grammar across world languages, Language and cultural references
Genres
Linguistics, Language Humor, Grammar & Punctuation

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About this book

When Chinese shopkeepers tried to find a written equivalent of Coca-Cola, one set of characters they chose was pronounced “ke-kou ke-la.” It sounded right, but it literally translated as “bite the wax tadpole.” Language, like travel, is always stranger than we expect and often more beautiful than we imagine.

Continue reading

In Biting the Wax Tadpole Elizabeth Little takes a decidedly unstuffy and accessible tour of grammar via the languages of the world—from Lithuanian noun declensions and imperfective Russian verbs to Ancient Greek and Navajo. And in one of the most courageous acts in the history of popular grammar books, she attempts to provide an explanation of verbal aspect that people might actually understand. Other difficult and pressing questions addressed in Biting the Wax Tadpole include: *Just what, exactly, the Swedish names of IKEA products mean *Why Icelandic speakers must decide if the numbers 1-4 are plural *How Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) was able to take an otherwise unexceptional pair of breakfast foods and turn them into literary fodder for generations *Why Joanie Loves Chachi was Korea’s highest rated television show ever *Why Basque grammar seems downright kooky to just about anyone who isn’t a native speaker

Grammar Gone Sideways

A playful, accessible tour of world languages finds unexpected beauty in the rules behind everyday words.

Come here for

  • Oddly satisfying detours through grammar, from IKEA names to Icelandic numbers
  • Language questions with the charm of a good dinner-table tangent

Expect

  • Clear explanations of tricky features, including verbal aspect
  • A light touch with serious linguistic curiosities

Where it sits

Linguistics66%
Grammar & Punctuation43%
Language Humor42%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Language Humor
  • Linguistics
  • Syntax
Authors
Elizabeth Little
Publisher
Random House Publishing Group
Published
November 11, 2008
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Grammar across world languages · Language and cultural references
Reading lane
Language Humor