Susie Dent Quotes

People have been warning us that language was going to the dogs ever since Latin started turning into French. Yet the dogs in question never seem to emerge yelping on the horizon.

Every usage, no matter how bizarre or nonstandard, fascinates me, as it tells me something about the way language is evolving.

In all my years in 'Countdown's' Dictionary Corner, the subject most guaranteed to rankle with our viewers is the presence of Americanisms in the dictionary.

At any one time language is a kaleidoscope of styles, genres and dialects.

Whenever I'm reading a book I enjoy, I always develop a mental list of the people I want to share it with.

It is such a luxury to open a new book that's highly recommended by friends - either an inspirational yet humorously self-deprecating memoir, or a page-turning piece of fiction.

I have my own vocabulary. I love linguistics. That surprises people.

I think a lot of readers are looking for a book they can talk about.

I am now completing research supported by NSF and NEH that is mapping changes in the English language through all of North America, for both mainstream and minority communities.

Spellings are made by people. Dictionaries - eventually - reflect popular choices.

Well, I like how people talk. I like language. You know, Linda Richman spoke in Yiddish.

The places I come from have such rich languages, such a variety of expression. In Sierra Leone we have about fifteen languages and three dialects. I grew up speaking about seven of them.

Get your friends together, go to your local bookstore and have a book-buying party.

Lexicographers are language reporters.

I just love dialects; they're really fun.

The British have slang words, as we do, but it was fun.

I read reviews and consider myself pretty 'plugged in' to the literary cosmos, yet one of the things I love best about book-touring is the opportunity to compare notes with favorite booksellers around the country. I always come home with books by authors I'd never heard of - or books I've read about but didn't realize I might love.

Language, after all, is organic. You can't force words into existence. You can't force new meanings into words. And some words can't or won't or shouldn't be laundered or neutered. Language develops naturally.

Language is a living thing. We can feel it changing. Parts of it become old: they drop off and are forgotten. New pieces bud out, spread into leaves, and become big branches, proliferating.

Well, I'm trilingual myself. I am, I know how to speak Spanish, English, obviously, and I speak pretty good Ebonics.

Ideally my goal is, before I die, to have some information about every word that's ever been used in print.

People forget that writers start off being readers. We all love it when we find a terrific read, and we want to let people know about it.

People are under the impression that dictionaries legislate language. What a dictionary does is keep track of usages over time.

I hate that bookstores are closing. Hate it! What's better than hanging out a bookstore, be it independent or chain, and talking books with people who love books?

Speakers of English love to invent and reinvent the language.