Susie Dent

Welcome to a year of wonder through the English language with Susie Dent, lexicographer extraordinaire and queen of Countdown's Dictionary Corner. From 'Turning a Blind Eye' (Nelson putting the telescope to his missing eye to ignore the order to stop fighting) to why May Day became a distress call; from stealing someone's thunder to the real Jack the Lad, from tartle (forgetting someone's name) to snaccident (unintentionally eating a whole packet of biscuits), Word Perfect is her brilliant linguistic almanac full of unforgettable true stories tied to every day of the year. You'll never be lost for words again.

Did you know that... STEALING SOMEONE'S THUNDER is based on a real event; The original FREELANCES were knights for hire ('free' + 'lance'); Nelson was the first TO TURN A BLIND EYE (putting a telescope to his missing eye to ignore orders); GORDON BENNETT was a real (very badly behaved) person; As was JACK THE LAD; PULLING SOMEONE'S LEG was an 18th century robber's trick; BUTTERING UP came from the Indian custom of throwing balls of ghee at statues of gods to ask for favours This is just the tiniest taste of the many fascinating tales and histories behind our everyday words and phrases. In Interesting Stories about Curious Words , Susie Dent, Britain's cleverest lexicographer, linguistic expert and much-loved national treasure, explores all the very best RED HERRINGS, COCK AND BULL STORIES, WHITE ELEPHANTS and NINE-DAY WONDERS in the English language. There are enough stories to furnish a hundred conversations in a wonderful collection for everyone who loves words. 'Nobody on earth knows more about the English language than Susie Dent' Gyles Brandreth

She knew there'd be ghosts in Oxford, she just didn't think they'd make their way to the dictionary. Oxford, England. After a decade abroad, Martha Thornhill has returned home to the city whose ancient institutions have long defined her family. But the ghosts she had thought to be at rest seem to have been waiting for her to return. When an anonymous letter is delivered to the Clarendon English Dictionary, where Martha is a newly hired senior editor, it's rapidly clear that this is not the usual lexicographical enquiry. Instead, the coded letter hints at secrets and lies linked to a particular year.  The date can mean only one the summer Martha's brilliant older sister Charlie went missing.  When more letters arrive, Martha and her team pull apart the complex clues within them, and soon, the mystery becomes ever more insistent and troubling. Because it seems Charlie had been keeping a powerful secret, and someone may be trying to lead the lexicographers towards the truth that will unravel the mystery of her disappearance. But other forces are no less desperate to keep their secrets well and truly buried, and Martha and her team must crack the codes before it's too late. From resident lexicographer Susie Dent comes a linguistic mystery that will both delight and shock readers.

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.