How to Talk Like a Local : From Cockney to Geordie

Would you be bewildered if someone described you as radgy? Do you know how to recognise a tittamatorter? And would you understand if someone called you a culchie? "How to Talk Like a Local" gathers together hundreds of words from all over the country and digs down to uncover their origins. From dardledumdue, which means daydreamer in East Anglia, through forkin robbins, the Yorkshire term for earwigs, to clemt, a Lancashire word that means hungry, it investigates an astonishingly rich variety of regional expressions, and provides a fascinating insight into the history of the English language. If you're intrigued by colourful words and phrases, if you're interested in how English is really spoken, or if you simply want to find out a bit more about the development of our language, "How to Talk Like a Local" is irresistible - and enlightening - reading.

Susie Dent is an independent editor and translator who appears regularly in Countdown's 'dictionary corner'. She is the author of six editions of The Language Report, an annual guide to the new words and phrases that find their way into the English language.