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Also by Jag Bhalla:

I'm Not Hanging Noodles on Your Ears and Other Intriguing Idioms From Around the World, June 2009
Paperback

I'M NOT HANGING NOODLES ON YOUR EARS AND OTHER INTRIGUING IDIOMS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
By: Jag Bhalla

National Geographic
June 2009
On Sale: June 16, 2009
272 pages
ISBN: 1426204582
EAN: 9781426204586
Paperback
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Humor

"I’m not hanging noodles from your ear." In Moscow, this curious, engagingly colorful assertion is common parlance, but unless you’re Russian your reaction is probably "Say what?" The same idea in English is equally odd: "I’m 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 theme—food, love, romance, and many more—they 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, we’re "nose to the grindstone," but industrious Chinese toil "with liver and brains spilled on the ground" and busy Indians have "no time to die."

If you’re already fluent in 10 languages, you probably won’t need this book, but you’ll "get a kick out of it" anyhow; for the rest of us, it’s a must. Either way, 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 we’re not hanging noodles from your ear.

Media Buzz

Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me! - November 21, 2009
All Things Considered - July 3, 2009