William thought there must be a long compound German word for the way that large events in the world could affect your personal life: the scale was reduced to the point of insignificance, but the everyday effect was amplified.

NEWYORKER: The Proxy Marriage

And how, for example, do you treat a German compound verb, or a Hungarian word formation which can incorporate a whole sentence?

ECONOMIST: Shape-shifting

Each code word represented a different stage of the mission: leaving Jalalabad, entering Pakistan, approaching the compound, and so on.

NEWYORKER: Getting Bin Laden