I really was the nerd in the car that read vocabulary books. If we were going on day trips, I would quite like to have just stayed in the car with my German and French vocab books. It’s embarrassing to admit to it now. Susie Dent Read Quote
We are surrounded by hundreds of ‘tribes,’ each speaking their own distinct slanguage of colourful words, jokes and phrases that together form an idiosyncratic phrasebook, years in the making. Susie Dent Read Quote
I’ve been obsessed with words since I was a little girl, and I am fortunate that each week as resident word expert on ‘Countdown’ I am ideally placed to quiz my guests in dictionary corner about the words and phrases they use. Susie Dent Read Quote
There is an art to eavesdropping, but I think to some extent we are all guilty of picking up those little odds and ends that can be quite intriguing if you analyse them. Susie Dent Read Quote
In the 1900s, bleaching lotions and skin-lighteners were a female imperative no matter what her colour, often carrying suggestive names like ‘Fair-Plex Ointment’ and ‘Black-No-More.’ The tiniest touch of rouge was allowed, but only if applied with great subtlety. Susie Dent Read Quote
When eyeliner was introduced in the Twenties by Max Factor, a pioneer of Hollywood film cosmetics who began selling to the public, even the word ‘makeup’ was a revelation. Susie Dent Read Quote
English has always been a mongrel tongue, snapping up words from every continent its speakers encountered. Susie Dent Read Quote
I love both garlic and onions, and this word pithily captures the rich tastes of both. Susie Dent Read Quote
