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659:(2006): "The books of Nigel Rees have been an important source of information for this work ... Rees has been a pioneering quotation scholar who was one of the first to make it clear that the material in the standard reference works for many of the best-known and most interesting quotations can be improved upon."
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book, which led to a series under varying titles and devoted to aspects of the
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Passed/Failed: "I got a first in having a good time" — An education in the life of the broadcaster and writer Nigel Rees
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Rees kept up the revue acting he had started at Oxford by appearing for five years in Radio 4's topical comedy show
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between 1972 and 1979. From 1973 to 1975 he was also a regular presenter of Radio 4's arts magazine
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Widely recognised as host and participant in quizzes and panel games, he has been chairman of TV's
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collections was a No. 1 paperback best-seller in the UK. Since 1992, he has published and edited
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as a reporter before becoming involved in programmes for BBC Radio as reporter and producer.
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before leaving in May 1978 at the time of his marriage to Sue Bates, a marketing executive.
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Rees is a past
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In 1990, Rees became the first celebrity winner of the
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programme, at the age of 32. He presented the programme for two years with
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All Gong and No Dinner – Homely
Phrases and Curious Domestic Sayings
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In 1976, he became the youngest ever regular presenter of Radio 4's
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as "Britain's most popular lexicographer – the lineal successor to
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After leaving university, Rees went straight into television with
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People educated at
Merchant Taylors' Boys' School, Crosby
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describes Rees as a "pioneering quotation scholar".
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In 1971, he turned to presenting. He introduced the
361:Reference books he has written or compiled include
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410:Cassell Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins
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423:The Bloomsbury Dictionary of Popular Phrases
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183:and, like him, he makes etymology fun."
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514:A Man About a Dog – Euphemisms &c
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462:Cassell's Humorous Quotations
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134:(born 5 June 1944 near
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320:(panel game) — all on
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310:Challenge of the South
243:Betty Witherspoon Show
102:Writer and broadcaster
475:I Told You I Was Sick
391:Selected bibliography
312:(general knowledge),
187:Television and radio
164:New College, Oxford
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567:References
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230:Stop Press
154:Early life
143:panel game
132:Nigel Rees
71:Merseyside
60:1944-06-05
46:Dr Johnson
32:Nigel Rees
596:9 January
331:Countdown
326:Channel 4
241:, in the
136:Liverpool
112:Sue Bates
79:Education
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348:graffiti
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