Susie Dent facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Susie Dent MBE
Dent in 2012
Born	Susan Dent November 1964 (age 60) Woking, Surrey, England
Education	Somerville College, Oxford (BA) Princeton University (MA)
Occupation	Lexicographer and television presenter
Known for	Countdown (1992–present)
Spouse(s)	Paul Atkins ​ (separated 2021)​
Children	2

Susan Dent (born in November 1964) is an English expert on words. She is a lexicographer, meaning she studies and writes dictionaries. She is also an etymologist, which means she studies where words come from.

Susie is very well known for her role on the TV game show Countdown. She has been on the show since 1992. She also appears on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, which is a funny version of the show.

Early Life and Learning

Susie Dent was born in a place called Woking, in Surrey, England. She went to a private school called The Marist Convent in Ascot. For a short time, she also studied at Eton College. This helped her prepare for university entrance exams.

After school, Susie went to Somerville College, Oxford. There, she studied modern languages. She then went to Princeton University in the United States. She earned a master's degree in German. After finishing her studies, she taught German in New York for a year.

Her Career with Words

Susie Dent is famous for her job on Countdown. She is the show's word expert. She helps with the letters rounds and explains words. She started working on Countdown in 1992. Her boss at Oxford University Press (OUP) asked her to do it.

At first, Susie wasn't sure about joining the show. But her boss said it was part of her job at OUP. So, she agreed to take the role. On every episode, she talks about where a word or phrase comes from. This is called its origin.

Susie has been on Countdown for a very long time. She has appeared in more than 5,000 episodes! She is the longest-serving person on the show's team. She also works on the funny spin-off show, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.

Other TV Appearances

Susie has appeared on other TV shows too. She was on the BBC comedy show Not Going Out. She also presented a web series called Susie Dent's Guide to Swearing. In this show, she looked at the history of certain English words.

She has also been a guest on the game show Would I Lie to You?. In 2018, she appeared on Richard Osman's House of Games for five episodes.

Podcasts and Live Shows

In 2019, Susie started a popular podcast called Something Rhymes With Purple. She hosts it with her friend Gyles Brandreth. They talk about words and language. They also do live theatre shows based on their podcast.

In 2023, Susie went on a solo tour. It was called The Secret Lives of Words. She shared interesting facts about words with her audience.

Susie is also involved with professional language groups. She is an honorary vice-president of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading. She is also an Honorary Fellow and vice-president of the Chartered Institute of Linguists.

In 2024, Susie was given a special award. She was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). This award was for her great work in literature and language.

Books by Susie Dent

Susie Dent has written many books about the English language. From 2003 to 2007, she wrote a series of yearly Language Reports. These reports looked at new words and how English was changing.

Some of her books include:

• Winning Words (2005)
• What Made the Crocodile Cry? 101 questions about the English language (2009)
• How to Talk Like a Local (2010), which is about different dialects.

She has also edited Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. This is a very large dictionary of phrases and stories. In 2024, her first novel, Guilty by Definition, was published.

Personal Life

Susie Dent was married to Paul Atkins, who is a teacher. They have two daughters together. They separated in 2021. Susie is a big fan of the Arsenal football team.