Susie Dent
{{short description|English lexicographer (born 19 November 1964)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2021}}
{{infobox person
| name = Susie Dent
| image = Susie Dent.png
| image_size =
| caption = Dent in 2012
| birth_name = Susan Dent{{London Gazette|issue=64423|supp=y|page=B17|date=15 June 2024}}
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1964|11}}
| birth_place = Woking, Surrey, England
| death_date =
| death_place =
| education = {{ubl|Somerville College, Oxford (BA)|Princeton University (MA)}}
| occupation = Lexicographer and television presenter
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MBE}}
| known_for = Countdown (1992–present)
| spouse = {{marriage|Paul Atkins||2021|end=separated}}
| children = 2
| parents =
}}
Susan Dent {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MBE}} (born November 1964){{cite web|url=https://www.saga.co.uk/magazine/entertainment/susie-dent-turning-60 |title=Susie Dent on turning 60 - "It's like I blinked and it happened"|publisher=Saga Magazine|date=12 August 2024|access-date=20 November 2024}} is an English lexicographer, etymologist and media personality. She has appeared in "Dictionary Corner" on the Channel 4 game show Countdown since 1992. She also appears on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, a post-watershed comedy version of the show.
Early life and education
Dent was born in Woking, Surrey.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/oxford/voices2005/expert.shtml|title=Susie Dent interview|date=2005|work=Oxford voices|publisher=BBC|access-date=27 July 2013}} She was educated at the Marist Convent in Ascot, an independent Roman Catholic day school,Times Educational Supplement; 1 August 2008 with a term at Eton College to study for Oxbridge entrance exams.[https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/tales-from-an-old-etonienne-cmjmxl62z Jack Blackburn, "Tales from an Old Etonienne", The Times, 26 July 2019]. Retrieved 19 August 2020 She went on to Somerville College, Oxford, to read for a BA in modern languages, then to Princeton University to read for a master's degree in German.{{cite news|last=Oppenheimer|first=Jeni|title=Channel 4's Countdown supplies Susie Dent with 'extra ideas' via earpiece|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/5476487/Channel-4s-Countdown-supplies-Susie-Dent-with-extra-ideas-via-earpiece.html|access-date=25 February 2014|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=8 June 2009}} Upon graduation she spent a year in New York teaching German, until her visa expired and she returned to the UK.{{Citation |title=James O'Brien meets Susie Dent {{!}} LBC | date=7 October 2023 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uzdoDVVhSY |access-date=2023-12-05 |language=en}}
Career
Dent is well known as the resident lexicographer and adjudicator for the letters rounds on Channel 4's longest-running game show, Countdown. She began working on Countdown in 1992 at the insistence of her boss, Simon, at Oxford University Press (OUP). She had recently switched roles to work on compiling English dictionaries, having previously worked on bilingual dictionaries.{{Cite web|url=https://www.essentialsurrey.co.uk/api/content/ddec68c8-eb2e-11e3-b2ef-22000a4f82a6/|title=Interview with Susie Dent|first=Miranda|last=Jessop|date=13 December 2016|website=Essential Surrey & SW London}} At first she declined the Countdown offer, but her boss explained that her appearance on the show formed part of her OUP employment contract and she agreed to take the role.
On each episode, she provides a brief commentary on the origin of a particular word or phrase. Dent is the longest-serving member of the show's current on-screen team, first appearing in 1992; she has since made more than 5,000 appearances.{{Cite web|url=https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/countdowns-susie-dent-reflects-30th-104000023.html|title=Countdown's Susie Dent reflects on 30th anniversary|first=Dan|last=Sneddon|date=4 July 2022|website=Yahoo.com |access-date=2023-03-15}} Dent also works on the spin-off show 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.{{cite web|url = http://www.channel4.com/programmes/8-out-of-10-cats-does-countdown|title = 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown|access-date = 1 April 2015|website = Channel 4}}
Dent appeared as herself in an episode of the BBC sitcom Not Going Out.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08dzss8 |title=BBC One – Not Going Out, Series 8, Hot Tub |publisher=BBC |access-date=2017-07-25}}{{cite web|last=Butcher |first=David |url=http://www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/e/fjrdtr/not-going-out--s8-e4-hot-tub |title=Not Going Out – what time is it on TV? Episode 4 Series 8 cast list and preview |website=Radiotimes.com |access-date=2017-07-25}}
Dent presented Channel 4 web series Susie Dent's Guide to Swearing, which explored the etymology and history of select English swear words.{{cite web|url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/susie-dents-guide-to-swearing |title=Susie Dent's Guide to Swearing – All 4 |website=Channel4.com |access-date=2017-07-25}} She has also made an appearance on BBC entertainment show Would I Lie to You?.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09jhwd0 |title=BBC One – Would I Lie to You?, Series 11, Episode 4|publisher=BBC|access-date=2017-12-25}} In 2018, she also appeared on five episodes of the panel show Richard Osman's House of Games.
In 2019, Dent launched the gold award podcast, Something Rhymes With Purple, co-hosted with her friend Gyles Brandreth;{{cite news |last1=Khan |first1=Introduction: Grace Dent Interviews: Coco |last2=Parkinson |first2=Hannah Jane |title='There's no such thing as an overshare': meet the hosts of Britain's most candid podcasts |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jun/08/no-such-thing-overshare-hosts-britain-most-candid-podcasts-julia-davis-vicki-pepperdine-fi-glover-jane-garvey |access-date=18 June 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=8 June 2019}} they have followed this up with their live theatre stage residencies using the same formula as their podcast.{{Cite web |date=2022-07-06 |title=More Live Dates For Gyles Brandreth And Susie Dent Plus West End Residency |url=https://www.beyondthejoke.co.uk/content/12259/gyles-brandreth-podcast |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=Beyond The Joke |language=en}}
In 2023, Dent embarked on a solo tour, The Secret Lives of Words.{{Cite web |title=Susie Dent |url=https://www.ents24.com/uk/tour-dates/susie-dent |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=Ents24 |language=en}}
Dent co-wrote a romantic radio drama with Peter Souter, Only One Word for Love, that was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 ahead of Valentine's Day in 2025.{{cite web |last1=Souter |first1=Peter |last2=Dent |first2=Suzie |date=2025-02-13 |title=Only One Word for Love |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0027tx2 |website=BBC Sounds |location=United Kingdom |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=2025-02-14}}
She has been honorary vice-president of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading since 2016, as well as an Honorary Fellow and vice-president of the Chartered Institute of Linguists since 2023.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ciep.uk/about/honorary-members|title=Honorary members|website=ciep.uk|access-date= 3 March 2020}}{{Cite web |title=CIOL Representation {{!}} CIOL (Chartered Institute of Linguists) |url=https://www.ciol.org.uk/representation |access-date=2023-06-13 |website=ciol.org.uk}}
Dent was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2024 Birthday Honours for services to literature and to language.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c511l0j4l2po |title=Bates knighted as Staunton and Emin made dames |publisher=BBC News |date=14 June 2024 |access-date=14 June 2024}}
Published books
From 2003 to 2007, Dent was the author of a series of yearly Language Reports for the Oxford University Press (OUP). The first was simply titled The Language Report, and this was followed by Larpers and Shroomers (2004); Fanboys and Overdogs (2005); The Like, Language Report for Real (2006); and The Language Report: English on the Move 2000–2007 (2007). The format of this publication was revised for 2008 as an A–Z collection of new and newly resurrected words. It was published in October 2008 as Words of the Year ({{ISBN|9780199551996}}).
In 2005, the same publisher issued Winning Words ({{ISBN|0199198748}}), and in 2009, What Made the Crocodile Cry? 101 questions about the English language ({{ISBN|0199574154}}). Dent's book about dialects, How to Talk Like a Local ({{ISBN|1905211791}}), was published in March 2010.
Her first novel, Guilty by Definition, was published in August 2024.{{cite web|url=https://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/guilty-by-definition-the-debut-novel-from-dictionary-corners-resident-lexicographer/susie-dent/hardback/9781804183946.html?kgclid=Cj0KCQjwn9y1BhC2ARIsAG5IY-4yQ78O-Bt0luFmmtB31cWleN1KzrFoLv5JdxvG4n_xgQEBn9WJx6QaAsWFEALw_wcB&gad_source=1|title=Guilty by Definition|website=whsmith.co.uk|accessdate=11 August 2024}}
| class="wikitable"
|+List of published books{{cite web|url=https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/258758.Susie_Dent/|title=Books by Susie Dent – goodreads.com|access-date=2 April 2018}} |
| First published
! Title ! Pages ! Publisher |
|---|
| November 2003
| The Language Report: The Ultimate Record of What We're Saying and How We're Saying It | 151 | Oxford University Press |
| November 2004
| Larpers and Shroomers: The Language Report | 174 | Oxford University Press |
| September 2005
| Winning Words | 32 | Oxford University Press |
| January 2006
| Fanboys and Overdogs | 163 | Oxford University Press |
| January 2007
| The Like, Language Report for Real | 176 | Oxford University Press |
| December 2007
| The Language Report: English on the Move 2000–2007 | 166 | Oxford University Press |
| October 2008
| Words of the Year | 148 | Oxford University Press |
| November 2008
| How to Talk Like a Local: From Cockney to Geordie | 256 | Random House |
| October 2009
| What Made the Crocodile Cry? 101 Questions About the English Language | 159 | Oxford University Press |
| August 2012
| Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (Editor) | 1568 | John Murray Learning |
| November 2013
| Susie Dent's Weird Words | 176 | Scholastic Non-Fiction |
| October 2017
| Dent's Modern Tribes: The Secret Languages of Britain | 336 | John Murray |
| October 2020
| Word Perfect: Etymological Entertainment For Every Day of the Year | 419 | John Murray |
| October 2022
| An Emotional Dictionary: Real Words For How You Feel | 336 | John Murray |
| September 2023
| Interesting Stories about Curious Words | 432 | John Murray |
| October 2023
| Roots of Happiness | 128 | Penguin Random House Children's UK |
| August 2024
| 400 | Zaffre |
Personal life
Dent was married to Paul Atkins, a teacher, and has two daughters.{{Cite web|last=Shahid|first=Sharnaz|date=14 October 2020|title=Countdown's Susie Dent gives rare insight into home life with daughters|url=https://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/2020101499052/countdown-susie-dent-rare-insight-home-life-daughters/|access-date=6 February 2021|website=Hello!|language=en}} They separated in 2021.{{cite newspaper The Times |last= McGrath |first= Nick |date= 17 August 2023 |title= Countdown's Susie Dent: 'No amount of money would get me on Strictly' |url= https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/susie-dent-theres-no-amount-of-money-that-would-get-me-on-strictly-h8rv899mz |access-date= 29 September 2023 }} Dent is an Arsenal supporter.{{cite web|url=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/queen-dictionary-corner-susie-dents-9203311|title=Queen of Dictionary Corner Susie Dent's book explains why her word is her bond with Jimmy Carr|publisher=Daily Record|date=6 November 2016|accessdate=18 November 2024}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{cite web|url=http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/tag/susie-dent/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111130065640/http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/tag/susie-dent/|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 November 2011|title=Dent's blog entries for OUP}}
- {{cite web|url=http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/C/countdown/ |title=Channel 4 Countdown Page}}
- {{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/oxford/voices2005/expert.shtml |author=Voices (BBC Oxford) |title=Susie Dent interview}}
- {{cite web|url=http://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/276616418-britishcomedyguide-rhlstp-108-susie-dent.mp3 |title=Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast interview}}
- {{IMDb name|1735069|Susie Dent}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2010}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dent, Susie}}
Category:21st-century English non-fiction writers
Category:Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford
Category:British women podcasters
Category:Countdown (game show)
Category:English lexicographers
Category:English television personalities
Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Oxford University Press people
Category:Princeton University alumni