How come only German has a word for "a person who leaves without paying the bill" (Zechpreller) or that Albanians need 27 words for "moustache"? A compelling new book uncovers the globe's most weird, wonderful, and meaningful words.

Everyone knows that Inuit-speaking races can call on 30-odd words for snow. Adam Jacot de Boinod first became entranced by language when he discovered 27 words for "moustache" in an Albanian dictionary - and another 27 for "eyebrows"! A world of bushy machismo and stolid dignity sprang to life before his eyes. He began hanging out in second-hand bookshops, looking for foreign dictionaries and the tiny revelations contained therein. He made lists of his favorite "words with no equivalent in the English languag." ... like tsui-giri, a Japanese word from Samurai days, meaning "to try out a new sword on a passer-by." or Torschlusspanik, a German word meaning "the fear of diminishing opportunities as one gets older."

Here are a just a few favorites from his book, "The Meaning of Tingo."

Nylentik - Indonesian - To flick someone with the middle finger on the ear.

Kucir - Indonesian - A tuft of hair left to grow on the top of an otherwise bald head.

O ka la nokonoko - Hawaiian - A day spent in nervous anticipation of a coughing spell.

Bakku-shan - Japanese - A girl who looks as though she might be pretty when seen from behind, but isn't when seen from the front.

Pomicione - Italian - A man who seizes any chance of being in close physical contact with a woman.

Koshatnik - Russian - A dealer in stolen cats.

Fucha - Portuguese - To use company time and resources for one's own purposes.

Zechpreller - German - A person who leaves a restaurant without paying.

Seigneur Terrasse - French - Someone who spends time, but not money, at a cafe.

Latah - Indonesian - Uncontrollable habit of saying embarrassing things.

Desus - Indonesian - The quiet, smooth sound of somebody farting, but not very loudly.

And finally... the title of the book, "The Meaning of Tingo" - from the Pascuense language on Easter Island.

Tingo - Borrowing things from a friend's house, one by one, until he has nothing left.

[ As Read on Car Talk]