Have you ever wondered why hairdressers always ask you where you're going on holiday or how ticket inspectors discreetly request back-up? What about cabbies' knowledge, what rhyming slang really means, or how a magician's patter works? We are surrounded by hundreds of tribes, each speaking their own distinct slanguage of colorful words, jokes and phrases, honed through years of conversations on the battlefield, in A&E, backstage and at ten-thousand feet in the air. Here, at last, is a witty guide through the linguistic minefields that surround us all. Susie Dent has spent years interviewing hundreds of professionals, hobbyists and enthusiasts and has created an idiosyncratic phrasebook like no other. From the freemason's handshake to the barista's guide to what your coffee says about you, Dent's Modern Tribes takes us on a whirlwind tour of Britain, decoding its secret languages and finding out what really makes us tick.