# Tony Thorne > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tony_Thorne > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tony_Thorne.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Thorne > Source revision: 1329513805 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|British linguist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''Tony Thorne''' (born 1950 in [Cairo, Egypt](/source/Cairo%2C_Egypt)) is a British author, [linguist](/source/linguist) and [lexicographer](/source/lexicographer) specialising in [slang](/source/slang), jargon and cultural history. He is a leading authority on language change and language usage in the UK and across the [English-speaking world](/source/English-speaking_world). == Career == Thorne attended [Hampton School](/source/Hampton_School) and the [University of Kent](/source/University_of_Kent) at Canterbury. Thorne's ''Dictionary of Contemporary Slang'', published by Bloomsbury in February 2014, remains one of the only treatments of the subject to be based on examples of authentic speech rather than purely upon written or broadcast sources, while ''Shoot the Puppy'', a survey of the latest buzzwords and jargon, drew upon his inside experience of corporate life while working as a communications consultant for multinationals, NGOs and business schools. His ''100 Words That Make the English'', published by Abacus in April 2011, consists of essays on one hundred key words that are most emblematic of English identity in the 20th and 21st centuries. After explorations in Central and [Eastern Europe](/source/Eastern_Europe) following the fall of [communism](/source/communism) and the opening of lost archives, Tony Thorne published the definitive English-language biography of the 16th century Hungarian Countess [Erzsebet Bathory](/source/Elizabeth_B%C3%A1thory), reputed to be a mass murderer who bathed in the blood of her victims. His ''Children of the Night'' is a comprehensive account of the historical origins of the [vampire](/source/vampire) myth as well as its subsequent representations in literature and popular culture. The book additionally examines contemporary vampire culture through interviews with self-styled ‘living vampires'. Thorne has also written a life of the 18th century French waxworker, [Madame Tussaud](/source/Madame_Tussaud), for children, and writes on [outsider](/source/Outsider_art) and [visionary art](/source/visionary_art). From 1991 to 2007 he was Director of the Language Centre at [King's College London](/source/King's_College_London) where he is now Visiting Consultant. He founded and oversees the Slang and New Language Archive at King's, a library and database resource recording language change and tracking linguistic controversies. He has written and presented programmes on language and popular culture for [BBC Radio 4](/source/BBC_Radio_4) and the [BBC World Service](/source/BBC_World_Service), and is a regular contributor to media discussions of language controversies, communication technologies and lifestyle innovations. He contributed the ‘Yoofspeak' column to the [Times Educational Supplement](/source/Times_Educational_Supplement) and wrote the 'Bizword' column in British Airway's Business Life magazine. Thorne also acts as independent consultant and expert witness in legal proceedings involving copyright and branding disputes, and criminal proceedings involving the interpretation of slang and criminal language.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/mar/29/ching-wap-ox-slang-interpreters-decipher-texts-for-court-evidence|title = 'Ching, wap, ox': Slang interpreters decipher texts for court evidence|website = [TheGuardian.com](/source/TheGuardian.com)|date = 29 March 2019}} Most recently he has compiled lexicons of language relating to Brexit and populism,{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/oct/05/brexitspeak-brexit-vocabulary-growing-too-fast-public-keep-up|title = 'Brexitspeak' growing too fast for public to keep up, say experts|website = [TheGuardian.com](/source/TheGuardian.com)|date = 5 October 2019}} recorded and commented on new language associated with the Coronavirus pandemic{{cite web| url = https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-april-22-2020-1.5540906/covidiots-quarantinis-linguist-explains-how-covid-19-has-infected-our-language-1.5540914| title = Covidiots? Quarantinis? Linguist explains how COVID-19 has infected our language {{!}} CBC Radio}} and new language used by GenZ and TikTokers {{cite web |url=https://www.newsweek.com/2024-most-popular-internet-slang-words-revealed-1978732 |title=2024's Most Popular Internet Slang Words Revealed |publisher=Newsweek |date=2024-11-01 |access-date=2024-11-11}} == Works == *''Dictionary of Contemporary Slang'', Bloomsbury, first published 1990; latest (4th) edition published 2014 {{ISBN|978-14081-8179-9}} *''Jolly Wicked, Actually: The 100 Words That Make Us English'', Little, Brown Book Group, 2009 {{ISBN|1-4087-0089-1}}, published in a revised paperback edition entitled ''The 100 Words That Make the English'', Abacus, 2011 {{ISBN|978-0-349-12103-1}} *''Shoot the Puppy'', Penguin, London 2007 {{ISBN|0-14-102706-1}} *''Madame Tussaud'', Short Books, London, 2004 {{ISBN|1-904095-29-1}} *''Children of the Night'', Victor Gollancz, London, 1999 {{ISBN|0-575-06646-6}} *''Countess Dracula'', Bloomsbury, London, 1997 {{ISBN|0-7475-2900-0}} *''Fads, Fashions & Cults'', Bloomsbury, London 1993 {{ISBN|0-7475-1384-8}} == Contributor == *Ed J Coleman, ''Global English Slang'', Routledge, London, 2014 {{ISBN|978-0-415-84268-6}} *Ed M Jazbec, ''European Perspectives'' Volume 3, Number 1, 2011 {{ISSN|1855-7694}} *''The Extraordinary Art of Laurie Lipton'', beinArt Publishing, Brunswick, Victoria, 2010 {{ISBN|978-0-9803231-2-2}} *Ed K Malmkjaer, ''Routledge Linguistics Encyclopedia'', Routledge, London, 2009 {{ISBN|9780415421041}} *(with Neil Murray) (eds) ''Multicultural Perspectives on English Language and Literature'', Tallinn Pedagogical University/King's College London, Tallinn, London, 2004 {{ISBN|9985-58-336-1}} *Malcolm McKesson, ''Matriarchy: Freedom in Bondage'', Heck Editions, New York, 1996 == References == [https://web.archive.org/web/20110615130528/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/non-fiction/article6802042.ece Lynne Truss, Jolly Wicked Actually, ''Sunday Times'', August 23 2009] [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article544802.ece Roland White, Education: If you want to talk slang, you’ll need this phat guide, ''Sunday Times'', 17 July 2005]{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3654490/Shoot-the-puppy-meaning-dare-to-do-the-unthinkable.html William Leith, Shoot the puppy (meaning: dare to do the unthinkable), ''Daily Telegraph'', 13 Aug 2006] George Szirtes, Vampire Goes West, ''Times Literary Supplement'', 27 June 1997. [http://www.rawvision.com/articles/32/mcquirk/mcquirk.html Wounds that bleed eternally, ''Raw Vision'' 32] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8388545.stm Mind Your Slanguage] == External links == * https://www.kcl.ac.uk/research/slang-and-new-language * https://language-and-innovation.com/ * http://www.lawagency.co.uk/writer/tony-thorne * http://issuu.com/shepherdneame/docs/spitfire_dictionary_203x127_hi?e=3265750/8488148 {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Thorne, Tony}} Category:1950 births Category:Living people Category:Linguists from the United Kingdom Category:British lexicographers Category:British biographers Category:Egyptian emigrants to the United Kingdom Category:Academics of King's College London --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Tony Thorne](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Thorne) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Thorne?action=history)). 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