Author Description

Fanboys and Overdogs is a collection of some of the most intriguing facts and observations on the English language in recent years. In her eminently readable exploration of the changing face of English, Susie Dent takes the reader on a journey through the most exotic and dynamic areas of the language. From histories of words to the word on the street, this completely new volume explores how language is changing, and gives a 'Word a Year' list for 1905 to 2005.The book covers new words, and the language of technology, politics, TV, and the media. Other topics covered include foreign words and phrases, word play, word histories, dialect, spelling, and current controversies of grammar and usage.A brand-new design brings the language to life on the page, and makes the book a pleasure to read. Fanboys and Overdogs is based on the ongoing research at Oxford Dictionaries, home of the Oxford English Dictionary and the largest language research program in the world. Oxford collects and analyses literally hundreds of millions of words of real language and the findings are presented here, many of them for the first time.Compellingly informative and readable Fanboys and Overdogs has something for everyone interested in the English language.