Word Perfect, Susie Dent
Word Perfect, Susie Dent
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Word Perfect
Etymological Entertainment For Every Day of the Year

Author: Susie Dent

Narrator: Susie Dent

Unabridged: 10 hr 59 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: John Murray

Published: 10/15/2020


Synopsis

'Susie Dent is a one-off. She breathes life and fun into words and language' Pam Ayres

Lexicographer and all-round word expert, queen of Countdown's Dictionary Corner for over twenty years; regular columnist for the Independent,Radio Times and The Week, Susie Dent is a national treasure. Her warm witty tweets reintroducing us to the words that we all need more in our lives from scurryfunge (frantically tidying up by shoving things into a cupboard just before visitors arrive) to apricity, (the warmth of the sun on a winter's day) are among the internet's most shared - now she's turning them into a linguistic almanac.

From 1 January to 31 December the reader will discover a curious coinage or a fascinating etymological fact linked that particular day -- from the dramatic true story behind stealing someone's thunder to the original Jack the Lad. Word Perfect. gathers all her very best discoveries from the true origin of freelancer which comes from knights who were FREE to use their LANCE for whoever paid most, rather than being tied to a single lord. (Also secretaries kept your SECRETS so were SECRETries).

Sticks and stones should probably be still avoided but words, especially in the hands of Susie Dent, will never hurt you. We don't have to choose the negative, Word Perfect offers a vivid reminder that you can be gruntled, ruthful, couth, ruly, kempt, pecunious, toward, whelmed, and full of gorm. And we all need a bit more of that in our lives.

(P) 2020 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd

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 Whispering on April 14, 2021

Book Reviewed on www.whisperingstories.com Word Perfect from Susie Dent is a book filled with words you either don’t often hear these days or the original meaning behind these words has long been forgotten. The book is set out in a diary format, so that you have one word a day, beginning on New Years......more

Goodreads review by Sarah ♡ on May 30, 2022

Lately, I have been really enjoying Susie Dent’s “word of the day” tweets, they have helped me through a rather bleak feeling winter, so I just had to pick up a copy of Word Perfect. It did not disappoint! It contains a different word for each day of the year, followed by a story and/or the etymology......more

Goodreads review by Angela on July 01, 2024

It’s tempting to call Susie Dent a walking dictionary, but she’s more often seen sitting behind a desk, mostly on the quiz show Countdown, where she has been the resident lexicographer in Dictionary Corner since 1992. The publication of her latest book caused something of a stir, as the initial print......more


Quotes

I love this book. Nobody on earth knows more about the English language than Susie Dent and nobody writes about it more entertainingly. This is a treat for every day of the year GYLES BRANDRETH

Susie Dent is a national treasure RICHARD OSMAN

A golden vaulted cave of fascinating and funny hidden gems for people who love words, for people who aren't that bothered about words and people who don't even really like words...and that is the magic of Susie Dent. JO BRAND

Utterly addictive . . . unputdownable Daily Express

Stuffed with delightful words . . . it'll keep Scrabble fanatics and wordsmiths entertained for hours Radio Times

Entertaining Spectator

Packed full of fascinating facts Sunday Express

Magic Daily Mail

You can pick it up and be absorbed for hours The Press (York)