This 'ice-breaking' book collects the English words of the Antarctic and the Arctic for the first time. These words relate to weather, ice and snow, auroras, clothes, food, housing, social structures, wildlife, plants, politics, as well as many other aspects of polar life. The terms are presented with scientific precision, a helpful interpretative commentary and moments of whimsy.

Apart from Antarctica and the Arctic, the regions covered here stretch to places as remote as the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Tristan da Cunha and the Falkland Islands.