Author Profile
Susie Dent
English • Scientist
60
Total Quotes
Collected Meditations
Showing 60 quotesI'm a big believer in change and embrace the fact that English is probably the fastest-moving language in the world.— Susie Dent
What I've discovered is that from football fans to undertakers, secret agents to marble-players and politicians, we all are part of at least one tribe. By tribes, I'm talking anthropologically; these groups are determined less by genes and more by the work they do or the passions they pursue.— Susie Dent
Footballers, managers, pundits and fans make up possibly the biggest tribe of them all, especially in this country. Whatever is said by pundits is echoed across sofas and in pubs all over the nation.— Susie Dent
In South Korea, some 20 million people share just five surnames. Every one of Denmark's top 20 surnames ends in '-sen,' meaning 'son of,' a pattern that is replicated across Scandinavia. British surnames have never favoured such neatness, and we can be grateful for that.— Susie Dent
Booze' was once a popular term in the slang or 'cant' of the criminal underworld, which may explain its rebellious overtones today.— Susie Dent
Can I get a mochaccino?': a statement that, for many, is worse than any number of nails down a blackboard. Not on account of the coffee - most of us drink Ventis aplenty these days - rather it's the 'can I get?' - three words that regularly top the list of British bugbears.— Susie Dent
No one expects the tone of an election to be mild-mannered, least of all a presidential one.— Susie Dent
Among the best of Hitchcock's own psychological thrillers is 'Spellbound,' whose story unusually wrapped the subject of psychoanalysis around a murder mystery.— Susie Dent
Claggy is often seen as a negative word, yet for me it describes perfectly that full-mouthed feel of a treacle tart of banoffee pie.— Susie Dent
Friable isn't often used of food, yet its meaning lends itself perfectly to pastry and crumbly biscuits.— Susie Dent
Probably my favourite winter-word of all. Apricity is the warmth of the sun on a chilly day.— Susie Dent
English may be the fastest moving language in the world, but there are plenty of concepts, sensations and everyday occurrences which lack a pithy word to describe them. Take the clunkiness of 'the day before yesterday' and 'the day after tomorrow': German provides single words for both.— Susie Dent
Slang moves on so fast that most new words disappear soon after they are coined. But there is always something that sticks behind.— Susie Dent
Glogg is a Scandinavian mulled wine, sweetened with honey, almonds, raisins and spices. Its name suits its purpose so beautifully.— Susie Dent
I don't intentionally eavesdrop. I'm not looking for salacious gossip, I'm just looking for vocabulary items.— Susie Dent