A new volume of the Oxford Dictionary of English is described by Susie Dent as documenting more than 350 ways of insulting or “poking fun” at someone, while recording far fewer compliments, with the figure cited at 40.
The coverage presents this as an example of how English has historically carried a large set of put-downs alongside a smaller set of positive terms. One article frames the discussion around rediscovered or “lost” parts of the lexicon, using playful characterisations of words such as “snollygoster” and “throttlebottom.” Both outlets draw on the same reported counts and position the dictionary update as the source for the numerical comparison.
While the overall message is consistent across the two sources, the emphasis differs slightly: one outlet focuses on the theme of “exotic put-downs” as part of an exploration of language history, and the other repeats the same central statistics and terminology. Both, however, treat the dictionary’s new edition as the basis for the contrast between insults and compliments.
