I'm Not Hanging Noodles on Your Ears and Other Intriguing Idioms From Around the

(Paperback)

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"Im not hanging noodles on your ears." In Moscow, this curious, engagingly colourful assertion is common parlance, but unless youre Russian your reaction is probably "Say what" The same idea in English is equally odd: "Im not pulling your leg." Both mean: Believe me. As author Jag Bhalla demonstrates, these amusing, often hilarious phrases provide a unique perspective on how different cultures perceive and describe the world. Organized by themefood, love, romance, and many morethey embody cultural traditions and attitudes, capture linguistic nuance, and shed fascinating light on "the whole ball of wax." For example, when English-speakers are hard at work, were "nose to the grindstone," but industrious Chinese toil "with liver and brains spilled on the ground" and busy Indians have "no time to die." This surprising, often thought-provoking little tome is gift-friendly in appearance, a perfect impulse buy for word lovers, travelers, and anyone else who enjoys looking at life in a riotous, unusual way. And were not hanging noodles from your ear.

Reviews

An "amusing look at cultural similarities"Will Safire, New York Times

"A delightful celebration of the wit, insight, and poetic genius to be found in everyday language" Steven Pinker, Harvard University Professor and author of The Stuff of Thought

Author Bio

An Oxford-educated technology entrepreneur and business and marketing specialist, Jag Bhalla holds five master's degrees. He co-produced the feature-length documentary "Voices in Wartime." He is an avid traveller who, in the course of his enterprises and global adventures, has meticulously collected idioms for I'm Not Hanging Noodles from Your Ear.