Search results for ""Author Susie Dent""

Join Susie Dent, lexicographer extraordinaire and Queen of Countdown''s Dictionary Corner, on a curious and exceedingly interesting adventure through all the very best RED HERRINGS, COCK AND BULL STORIES and NINE-DAY WONDERS in the English language.Who was SWEET FANNY ADAMS?What''s the dramatic true story behind STEALING THUNDER?Why is it CHANCING YOUR ARM when you take a risk?What do bears have to do with LICKING INTO SHAPE?Or robbers with PULLING SOMEONE''S LEG?Why are CIRCLES VICIOUS?And, what''s so bad about a WHITE ELEPHANT? ''Nobody on earth knows more about the English language than Susie Dent'' Gyles Brandreth

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Did you know that . . . a soldier's biggest social blunder is called jack brew - making yourself a cuppa without making one for anyone else? That twitchers have an expression for a bird that can't be identified - LBJ (the letters stand for Little Brown Job)? Or that builders call plastering the ceiling doing Lionel Richie's dancefloor? Susie Dent does.Ever wondered why football managers all speak the same way, what a cabbie calls the Houses of Parliament, or how ticket inspectors discreetly request back-up? We are surrounded by hundreds of tribes, each speaking their own distinct slanguage of colourful words, jokes and phrases, honed through years of conversations on the battlefield, in A&E, backstage, or at ten-thousand feet in the air. Susie Dent has spent years interviewing hundreds of professionals, hobbyists and enthusiasts, and the result is an idiosyncratic phrasebook like no other. From the Freemason's handshake to the publican's banter, Dent's Modern Tribes takes us on a whirlwind tour of Britain, decoding its secret languages and, in the process, finds out what really makes us all tick.

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Join Susie Dent, lexicographer extraordinaire and Queen of Countdown's Dictionary Corner, on a curious and exceedingly interesting adventure through all the very best RED HERRINGS, COCK AND BULL STORIES and NINE-DAY WONDERS in the English language.Who was SWEET FANNY ADAMS?What's the dramatic true story behind STEALING THUNDER?Why is it CHANCING YOUR ARM when you take a risk?What do bears have to do with LICKING INTO SHAPE?Or robbers with PULLING SOMEONE'S LEG?Why are CIRCLES VICIOUS?And, what's so bad about a WHITE ELEPHANT? 'Nobody on earth knows more about the English language than Susie Dent' Gyles Brandreth

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THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER!'KEPT ME READING EAGERLY'Philip Pullman'HUGE FUN AND, AS YOU'D EXPECT, ALSO BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN' Gyles Brandreth'QUITE SIMPLY ONE OF THE FINEST MYSTERIES I HAVE EVER READ'Rob Rinder'A TANTALISING MYSTERY FOR WORD SLEUTHS AND CRIME FANS ALIKE'Janice Hallett, Sunday Times bestselling author of The AppealGuilty by Definition is a love letter not only to language but to the city of Oxford, wrapped within an intriguing mystery of a missing woman and considering the emotional aftershocks of her disappearance on those left behind.She'd known there would be ghosts in Oxford. Martha wasn't afraid of any headless horsemen, or nuns haunting the local ruins; it was Charlie, always Charlie she was afraid would find her. When an anonymous letter is delivered to the Clarendon E

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'MAGIC' JO BRAND'HAPPIFYING' STEPHEN FRY'SUSIE DENT IS A NATIONAL TREASURE' RICHARD OSMANWhether it's the distress of a bad haircut (AGE-OTORI) or longing for the food someone else is eating (GROAKING), the pleasure found in other people's happiness (CONFELICITY) or the shock of jumping into icy water (CURGLAFF), there are real words to pinpoint exactly how you feel and Susie Dent, Queen of Countdown's Dictionary Corner and lexicographer extraordinaire, is going to help you find them. Here are 1001 terms everyone needs, whether it's the best kind of hug (CWTCH), the relief found in swearing (LALOCHEZIA), or the ability to endure till the end (PERTOLERANCE). It's time to rediscover the lost positives of language (and be more GORM); find out how a stork gave us the word for the love between parent and child, and who the first MAVERICK was. Packed with unexpected stories and unforgettable words, on a mission to describe the indescribable, this life-enhancing book will deepen your vocabulary as much as it extends it. Welcome to the first truly human dictionary, as idiosyncratic and unusual as you are.

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'Susie Dent is a one-off. She breathes life and fun into words and language' Pam Ayres'Susie Dent is a national treasure' Richard OsmanWelcome to a year of wonder with Susie Dent, lexicographer, logophile, and longtime queen of Countdown's Dictionary Corner.From the real Jack the Lad to the theatrically literal story behind stealing someone's thunder, from tartle (forgetting someone's name at the very moment you need it) to snaccident (the unintentional eating of an entire packet of biscuits), WORD PERFECT is a brilliant linguistic almanac full of unforgettable stories, fascinating facts, and surprising etymologies tied to every day of the year. You'll never be lost for words again.

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'This is, in fact, not what you were looking for; but it's much more interesting' Terry PratchettMuch loved for its wit and wisdom since 1870, Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable takes you on a captivating adventure through its trademark blend of language, culture, myth and legend. Nowhere else could the histories of the guillotine and Guinness stout sit so comfortably alongside the KGB and the Keystone Kops. Brewer's is a catalogue of curiosities and absurdities that, over almost 150 years in print, has acquired near-mythical status.Edited by Susie Dent, this new edition includes a brand new Collection of Curious Words and many new and updated entries. Its pages brim with esoteric and entertaining oddities - everything from curious customs to the world of newspapers and political alliances of yesteryear - all seen through the distinctive Brewer lens.This twentieth edition of Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable encapsulates all the charm and wit that characterise its predecessors and maintains the standards of scholarship and eclecticism that have long been its hallmark.Whether you're a committed Brewerphile or a newcomer to its pages of fascinating entries, this edition will draw you in and keep you glued to its rich mix of eccentric nuggets. As Susie Dent explains in the foreword, Brewer's "is unlike any other reference book that exists, anywhere."

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'Susie Dent is a national treasure' RICHARD OSMAN'Susie Dent is a one-off. She breathes life and fun into words and language' PAM AYRES__________________________________________Would you be bewildered if someone described you as radgy?Do you know how to recognise a tittamatorter?And would you understand if someone called you a culchie?How to Talk Like a Local gathers together hundreds of words from all over the country and digs down to uncover their origins. From dardledumdue, which means daydreamer in East Anglia, through forkin robbins, the Yorkshire term for earwigs, to clemt, a Lancashire word that means hungry, it investigates an astonishingly rich variety of regional expressions, and provides a fascinating insight into the history of the English language.If you're intrigued by colourful words and phrases, if you're interested in how English is really spoken, or if you simply want to find out a bit more about the development of our language, How to Talk Like a Local is irresistible - and enlightening - reading.__________________________________________________'Nobody on earth knows more about the English language than Susie Dent and nobody writes about it more entertainingly' GYLES BRANDRETH'It's an interesting and, at times, hilarious read. One for word-lovers' THE SUN

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The debut linguistic mystery novel from Dictionary Corner's resident lexicographer, Susie Dent. **AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW** 'A TANTALISING MYSTERY FOR WORD SLEUTHS AND CRIME FANS ALIKE' Janice Hallett, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Appeal '

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Whether it's the distress of a bad haircut (AGE-OTORI) or longing for the food someone else is eating (GROAKING), the pleasure found in other people's happiness (CONFELICITY) or the shock of jumping into icy water (CURGLAFF), there are real words to pinpoint exactly how you feel and Susie Dent, Queen of Countdown's Dictionary Corner and lexicographer extraordinaire, is going to help you find them. Here are 1001 terms everyone needs, whether it's the best kind of hug (CWTCH), the relief found in swearing (LALOCHEZIA), or the ability to endure till the end (PERTOLERANCE). It's time to rediscover the lost positives of language (and be more GORM); find out how a stork gave us the word for the love between parent and child, and who the first MAVERICK was. Packed with unexpected stories and unforgettable words, on a mission to describe the indescribable, this life-enhancing book will deepen your vocabulary as much as it extends it. Welcome to the first truly human dictionary, as idiosyncratic and unusual as you are.

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"I enjoyed this so much. As a pessimistic lover of words, this was both comforting and heart-warming. I always think that learning about etymology is a way to appreciate the secret code of the world, and Susie is the perfect guide and companion and lexical cheerleader." - Stig Abel"Susie Dent's way with words always makes me happy. This is my kind of book. There's positivity on every page." - Gyles BrandrethSusie Dent, bestselling author, broadcaster and word expert, is on a mission to find light in the deepest, darkest corners of our language.It takes just a short browse through the dictionary to spot how it is filled with negative words. But Susie has searched far and wide to unearth happy and uplifting words and phrases that, in some cases, are long forgotten, while others have only just been discovered.Paired with beautiful illustrations, this is the perfect book to lift you out of your mubble fubbles (a slightly sad mood), make you grin like a gigglemug (someone who never stops smiling), and have you feeling forblissed (extremely happy) in no time.This joyous collection of 100 positive words and their origins will show readers young and old just how wonderful language can be - and how you can use your words to make the world a happier place.

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We’re all familiar with ‘a flock of sheep’ but what are the collective nouns for racehorses, pigs, zebras or giraffes? Drawing on a range of sources, from fifteenth-century hunting terms to more recent inventions that have now entered the language, this book collects over 100 examples of the most interesting collective nouns for animals, each illustrated with charming woodcuts by the renowned naturalist engraver of the eighteenth century, Thomas Bewick. Some describe a key characteristic of the animal in question: ‘a shrewdness of apes’, ‘a busyness of ferrets’. Others are delightfully humorous: ‘a piddle of puppies’, ‘a crash of rhinoceroses’. Featuring pets, farmyard animals, big cats and wild beasts, this beautifully presented book is the perfect gift for animal lovers and all those with an interest in this quirky linguistic tradition.

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