Language Quote by Susie Dent

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

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

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

I don't intentionally eavesdrop. I'm not looking for salacious gossip, I'm just looking for vocabulary items.

— Susie Dent

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

The notion of 'Queen's English' is usually applied to our pronunciation.

— Susie Dent

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

English has always been a mongrel tongue, snapping up words from every continent its speakers encountered.

— Susie Dent

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

The one thing - apart from assumptions about German - that I have to challenge frequently is people assuming that lexicographers are fierce protectors…

— Susie Dent

The character of our language defines us, and dictionaries say as much about us as about the way we speak.

— Susie Dent

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