2022 is the year when France celebrates the 250th anniversary of the discovery of the Crozet and Kerguelen Islands, in 1772. They are part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF), territories that allow France to control the second largest maritime territory in the world after the United States, and that remain mysterious for many inhabitants of metropolitan France and overseas. Without a permanent population, the TAAF periodically welcome scientists, technicians and military personnel. Over time, they have developed a special language, Taafian, which can be likened to a kind of administrative jargon or professional language. Passed on from wintering to wintering, Taafian is at the same time inventive, humorous and poetic. It evokes strange jobs and landscapes full of mysteries. It is this fascinating universe that is conveyed in the beautiful book L'argot des manchots, a small lexiconused inFrench Southern and Antarctic Lands. More information on the website of Hémisphères Éditions