The Roots We Share
100 Words That Bring Us Together
Published on 9. October 2025
Book
Hardback
128 pages
978-0-241-71782-0 (ISBN)
Description
Susie Dent, bestselling author, broadcaster and word expert, is on a mission to find 100 words and phrases that bring people together.
There are times when the world feels more divided than ever. But it is important to remember the things that unite rather than divide us. Susie has searched far and wide to unearth words and phrases - old, new, and long-forgotten - that celebrate harmony, unity, and the universal languages that connect people across the world.
Whether you want to conjobble (chat with a friend over some food), to be goodwilly (kind, generous, and cheerful), to atone for a mistake (become 'at' 'one' with someone again) or simply head off on a coddiwomple (a journey with no destination), this joyous collection of words celebrates the things in life that bind us together, from friendship, love and peace, to community, music and even the stars. These are the roots we share.
There are times when the world feels more divided than ever. But it is important to remember the things that unite rather than divide us. Susie has searched far and wide to unearth words and phrases - old, new, and long-forgotten - that celebrate harmony, unity, and the universal languages that connect people across the world.
Whether you want to conjobble (chat with a friend over some food), to be goodwilly (kind, generous, and cheerful), to atone for a mistake (become 'at' 'one' with someone again) or simply head off on a coddiwomple (a journey with no destination), this joyous collection of words celebrates the things in life that bind us together, from friendship, love and peace, to community, music and even the stars. These are the roots we share.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Random House Children's UK
Target group
Children/juvenile
Interest Age: From 8 to 18 years
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 197 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
600 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-241-71782-0 (9780241717820)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
10/2025
Puffin
€14.99
Available for download
Persons
Susie Dent (Author)
Susie Dent is a writer and broadcaster on language. She recently celebrated 25 years as the resident word expert on C4's Countdown, and also appears on the show's comedy sister 8 out of 10 Cats does Countdown. Susie comments regularly on TV and radio on words in the news. Susie answers notes and queries about words and phrases in weekly columns in the Radio Times and The Week Junior. She has written for the Independent on Sunday, the Telegraph, and the Times, and is the author of several books, including her latest, Dent's Modern Tribes. She is a spokesperson for Oxford University Press, and has been a judge on the Costa Book Awards and on the Academy Excellence Awards. Susie regularly delivers key-note speeches to both small companies and major corporations on language and communication.
@susie_dent
Harriet Hobday (Illustrator)
Harriet Hobday is an extraordinary new talent, a recent graduate of the MA Children's Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art. Currently based in Edinburgh, she was highly commended in the Macmillan Prize 2015 and runner-up for The Batsford Prize 2018.
Susie Dent is a writer and broadcaster on language. She recently celebrated 25 years as the resident word expert on C4's Countdown, and also appears on the show's comedy sister 8 out of 10 Cats does Countdown. Susie comments regularly on TV and radio on words in the news. Susie answers notes and queries about words and phrases in weekly columns in the Radio Times and The Week Junior. She has written for the Independent on Sunday, the Telegraph, and the Times, and is the author of several books, including her latest, Dent's Modern Tribes. She is a spokesperson for Oxford University Press, and has been a judge on the Costa Book Awards and on the Academy Excellence Awards. Susie regularly delivers key-note speeches to both small companies and major corporations on language and communication.
@susie_dent
Harriet Hobday (Illustrator)
Harriet Hobday is an extraordinary new talent, a recent graduate of the MA Children's Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art. Currently based in Edinburgh, she was highly commended in the Macmillan Prize 2015 and runner-up for The Batsford Prize 2018.