English has always been a mongrel tongue, snapping up words from every continent its speakers encountered. — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
The one thing - apart from assumptions about German - that I have to challenge frequently is people assuming that lexicographers are… — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
The character of our language defines us, and dictionaries say as much about us as about the way we speak. — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
We are surrounded by hundreds of 'tribes,' each speaking their own distinct slanguage of colourful words, jokes and phrases that together form… — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
Language is essentially tribal, so jargon can actually be a really good thing because it unites people. — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
The extraordinary thing about new words is that probably only about one per cent of them are new. Most are old words… — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
I was fascinated by the shape of words even before I knew what they meant. — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
Slang moves on so fast that most new words disappear soon after they are coined. But there is always something that sticks… — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
I'm a big believer in change and embrace the fact that English is probably the fastest-moving language in the world. — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
Probably my favourite winter-word of all. Apricity is the warmth of the sun on a chilly day. — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
New words can spread like wildfire thanks to social media - you only have to look at 'mansplaining' and 'milkshake duck' to… — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
Linguistic supersizing is on the increase, and it may show the influence of advertising-speak and corporate jargon on language, in which everything… — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
I work with the Oxford Dictionary databases, which sounds really boring, but they're actually fascinating as they show you how current words… — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
I've been obsessed with words since I was a little girl, and I am fortunate that each week as resident word expert… — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
If we want to change the nuance of a particular word we have to change that ourselves. — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
Quite often people ask me 'Is there a word for... ' and go on to highlight a gap in our language that… — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
My work, my love of words, became my refuge, both when I was working on bilingual dictionaries for Oxford University Press and… — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
I've been collecting linguistic oddities for years and years, ever since I was small. I've got loads of notebooks where I've jotted… — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
New words travel from one variety of English to another and at a rapidly increasing rate, thanks to the way language is… — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
One of the joys of language is its constant evolution, and a lexicographer's job is both to track new words and to… — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
From the start, English has happily absorbed words from every tongue it's encountered. — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
English may be the fastest moving language in the world, but there are plenty of concepts, sensations and everyday occurrences which lack… — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
According to my parents, I've always liked to tune into the conversations of others. But rather than hope for a snippet of salacious gossip,… — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
As dialect began to be collected in the late 19th century, such words as Yorkshire's 'gobslotch' emerged, revealing the burgeoning association between gluttony and… — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
In the earliest days, make-up and moralising were intertwined. The 'cosmetic slops and washes' of the 17th and 18th centuries aimed to smooth complexions… — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
I don't intentionally eavesdrop. I'm not looking for salacious gossip, I'm just looking for vocabulary items. — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
Above all, Jane Goodall continues to teach us that, as humans, we are no more entitled to our glorious planet than the chimps she… — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
The notion of 'Queen's English' is usually applied to our pronunciation. — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
Slang has different functions: many of the words we use are playful and a lot are tribal - we speak the same way as… — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
English has always been a mongrel tongue, snapping up words from every continent its speakers encountered. — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
As a nation we love our dialects, and there is a lot of regional variance in the names for different foods - barmcake, bap… — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
The one thing - apart from assumptions about German - that I have to challenge frequently is people assuming that lexicographers are fierce protectors… — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
The character of our language defines us, and dictionaries say as much about us as about the way we speak. — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
Almost half the adult population finds discussing the subject of money difficult. Slang words help us to navigate these conversations by making us feel… — Susie Dent Copy Share Image
