Interview with Susie Dent

Susie Dent, a fixture on the popular Channel 4 programme Countdown for twenty years, was raised in Surrey. She talks to Miranda Jessop about her passion for words and the show that has made her famous

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Susie Dent

When I hear the news that the word 'selfie' has been named Word of the Year by Oxford Dictionaries, I feel slightly horrified. I still think of myself as fairly youthful but I haven't got a clue what 'twerk' or 'binge-watch', two of the other words in the running, mean.

And if I am struggling to keep up with these new words, what chance is there for my octogenarian father, who is in the habit of saying 'Hold on pray' when he answers the telephone? Who better to ask than Susie Dent, the resident lexicographer in charge of the Dictionary Corner in Channel 4's popular Countdown programme.

I am surprised to hear that Susie, who is well-known for her knowledge of language and word origins, is not in the slightest bit appalled. Quite the contrary, she says she is excited by the appearance of these new additions.

"New words are proof that English is alive and kicking and versatile enough to cope with our new world. We all hear words we'd rather not have in our language, but if English stood still it would die out very quickly."

Susie has written several books for adults on the English language as well as editing the latest edition of Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. As a mother of two daughters, Susie is keen to pass her enthusiasm for words on to the next generation and has just written her first children's book, Susie Dent's Weird Words. I ask Susie how the idea for her new book came about.

"Children are naturally curious about the words they come across, but they're also scared or bored by the thought of looking them up. I wanted to share some of the wonderful (and often icky, ghoulish or downright weird) stories behind even the most everyday words like 'thrill' and 'mistletoe' (the first meant to pierce someone with a sword, while the literal meaning of the second was 'dung on a twig'). I'd love children to find the same pleasure in words that I do."

Susie Dent's Weird Words takes readers on a rip-roaring tour through some of the most astonishing, amusing and sometimes quite revolting origins of English words. Even the most ordinary- sounding word can have the most extraordinary story behind it. In the book children will learn that 'ain't' was once a word favoured by Kings and Queens, Medieval French soldiers named the grenade after the pomegranate and – my personal favourite – that the word 'fizzle' once meant to break wind silently.

Susie, aged 46, now lives with her husband and children in Oxford but she was born in Woking and spent her childhood in Chobham in Surrey. Susie shares some of her favourite memories of growing up in Chobham.

"Looking back I realise just how much freedom I had as a child. I'd set off on all kinds of adventures on my bike, and would end up playing for hours by a ford near my home, gazing at the water watching the tadpoles by my feet. I think I was always a daydreamer, happy in my own thoughts and world."

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Susie, who still enjoys coming back to Surrey to visit, adds, "The area still has so many resonances to me, though through an adult's eyes, things seem a lot smaller than I once thought them to be."

Although I didn't know Susie and she certainly wouldn't remember me, we both went to The Marist Convent, an independent Catholic day school for girls in Sunninghill, near Ascot in Berkshire. I remember the teachers endlessly dictating notes, writing until my hand ached and not really being encouraged to think for myself. However, Susie had a different experience.

"The Marist gave me a love of learning and even an appreciation of homework!” she says, “I liked its structured approach - I was quite a quiet child and the calm atmosphere suited me well."

Indeed, Susie did very well at school and she went on to Somerville College at Oxford and then to Princeton University.

It was Susie's job at Oxford University Press, working on bi-lingual dictionaries and then English dictionaries, which first led to her appearing on Countdown in 1992.

"My boss Simon asked me to go and audition almost the very day I started my working life at Oxford University Press (Countdown uses an Oxford Dictionary as the official authority on the show). I said no, twice, thinking I'd be hopeless - and when he finally persuaded me I really was! All I remember from my first few shows is trying to hide behind Rula Lenska's beautiful, big hair".

Susie, however, is being modest, she is perfect for the role and has been appearing regularly on the show for the last 20 years.

"I've never once been bored playing Countdown - the adrenalin still flows whenever the clock and its music set in. We have a fantastic team, both on set and off, and I also love the fact that the contestants are chosen for true ability, not because they'll make good television."

Susie clearly loves her job, "I truly have the best seat in the house - I spend hours in Dictionary Corner chatting to people who have thrilling lives. One day I might be hearing Ranulph Fiennes speak of his attempt to cross Antarctica and the next be quizzing Nicki Chapman about working with Annie Lennox and David Bowie".

The only disadvantage of her job is that Susie has to spend time away from her children for a few days every couple of weeks while the show is being filmed.

"But we've all settled into a routine now and it means I can do the school run on the other days," she says.

I ask why she thinks Countdown is such a successful programme.

"It's all about the format - Countdown is first and foremost a good, old-fashioned parlour game that can be played by young and old. It's also been voted as one of the top ways to keep the brain firing!" New from the beginning of this year, Susie and the celebrity guest in Dictionary Corner now use a laptop to check contestants' words instead of thumbing through a dictionary.

Susie explains, "It really isn't that different - we still use the same Oxford Dictionary but one that is even more up-to-date. My only sadness is that my one big skill in life - looking words up quickly in an alphabetical volume - is a thing of the past."

Susie is also a regular on 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. A one-off programme that was initially aired two years ago as part of a special 'mash-up night' celebrating Channel 4's 30th birthday, but it was so popular that the show ran to a second series.

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"It's great to be a part of it as it inevitably has a very different feel and we have huge laughs both off and on-screen. 'Expect the unexpected' is Rachel's and my mantra - we never know what the comedians are going to come up with and, sometimes, it is very surreal - running the gamut from male wrestlers to cuddly kittens!"  

Although she has been appearing on our screens for such a long time, Susie is a very private person at heart.

"I sometimes get recognised on the street but not in an intrusive way. I'd hate to be so famous that you're stopped or snapped wherever you go."

I wonder what Susie's career path might have been if Countdown hadn't happened.

"I would probably have stayed in publishing, as I loved my time as a commissioning editor. Working with a team is important to me. Then again, after the birth of each of my children, I was convinced I wanted to become a midwife!"  

Susie's passion for words is infectious. We discuss what her all time favourite word is.

Susie laughs, "It changes every week! I have several at the moment - a 'thunderplump' is a sudden rain shower, a 'merrythought' is an old term for a wishbone and a 'marshmallow' will always speak to me of gooey, squidgy sweetness toasted on a fire."

It may be too late for my father to keep up with the new generation of words but, at the end of our interview, I ask Susie if she has any advice for encouraging my three children to take an interest in the English language.

"Read, read, read.” urges Susie, “And whenever a word takes your fancy, or puzzles you, go and look it up in a dictionary of word origins. You'll be amazed at what you find!"

So kids, stop the 'binge-watching', there’s no time to 'twerk', we’re taking a trip to the library, and maybe we'll even take a 'selfie' when we get there!

Susie Dent’s Weird Words (Scholastic) £5.99

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