About the Author

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

Of all the dictionaries in the world [Brewer's] is the most like a treasure-hunt, where one phrase leads to another, and that to a third, and before you know what's happened, it's time for lunch
*Philip Pullman*

An idiosyncratic adventure, pulling you in and saying: "this is, in fact, not what you were looking for; but it's much more interesting"
*Terry Pratchett*

Off each page of Brewer's leaps some titbit of cultural or linguistic miscellany, much of which this reader didn't even know that he didn't know... A delight to flip around
*The Economist*

An addiction may develop
*Independent*

For almost 150 years it has been a celebrated treasure-trove of curious words, forgotten folklore and colourful olde worlde insults...It's opinionated, incomplete, haphazard and strangely addictive.
*The Telegraph*

that wonderful reference work
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase
& Fable. Endlessly fascinating,
it is an idiosyncratic treasure
trove of word history, culture,
folk lore and legend-and one of
my favourite books.
*The Bookseller*

Whoever it was who said that you learn something new every day had obviously never read Brewer's Dictionary Of Phrase And Fable. Browsing through this latest edition, I learned something new every few seconds... Who can fail to love a book that is jam-packed with such colourful and random information?... in what other reference book in the world would you ever find the Dalai Lama, the Daleks and Arthur Daley all rubbing shoulders on the same page?
*The Daily Mail*