Dents Modern Tribes, Susie Dent
Dents Modern Tribes, Susie Dent
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

Dent's Modern Tribes
The Secret Languages of Britain

Author: Susie Dent

Narrator: Susie Dent

Unabridged: 7 hr 22 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: John Murray

Published: 10/20/2016

Synopsis

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.

(P)2016 John Murray Press

About Susie Dent

Susie Dent is the resident word expert in Dictionary Corner on C4's Countdown and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, and has been on every programme about words: 15 x 15, Word of Mouth, and More or Less. Susie also writes regularly for the Radio Times, The Week Junior and The I, and her Word of the Day has attracted over 1,000,000 followers on Twitter.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Thomas

Ken Bruce can speak with a Popmaster guest for 30 seconds and sound like he's known them all his life. He knows enough about every part of the country, enough about every occupation and hobby, where less experienced radio hosts move swiftly on at their ignorance being there for all to hear. I'd love......more

Goodreads review by Jack

It’s really disappointing that I didn’t enjoy this more, and I feel a little mean giving it just 2 stars, but I must stick to my didn’t enjoy = 2 stars, did enjoy = 4 stars rating system. It is very informative, but to a fault. This felt too much like studying a dictionary. It really is a heavy info......more

Goodreads review by Steve

It was so good to meet the lovely Susie last year at her one-woman show, and she very kindly signed my copy of this book afterwards, as well a posing for a photo with me. I’ve admired her years, and thoroughly enjoyed her talk, which expanded on many aspects of what’s contained in this book. With Mode......more

Goodreads review by Sian

This was an interesting read with some crossover with the 'Etymologicon'. There were some fascinating insights into some of the language used with different parts of society. However, I listened to this on audio and I found the words came to thick and fast to take in almost. I think this would be a......more

Quotes

A fabulous read for anyone who loves words, and wants to learn some more. Funny, fact-filled and delightful

Wonderfully clever and funny . . . a national treasury from a national treasure

A fascinating, joyful look at the tribes all around us, from twitchers to taxi-drivers. A must

I thought only criminals had their own words for everything. Dent's Modern Tribes shows me quite how wrong I was

Sparkles with gentle wit, fascinating illustration, and linguistic insight

A brilliant, funny, wise, and illuminating canter through the languages of modern tribes

Susie Dent is a one-off. She breathes life and fun into words

The keys to the mysterious Kingdom of Jargon

This phrasebook is like no other and will help anyone talk the talk - whatever that might be The Sun

Thoroughly entertaining and illuminating Independent

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List