Joke exchanges are carried on in deadly earnest, like a verbal duel-mouth-to-mouth combat. Bang, bang: you’re (linguistically) dead.

He has also served as an important editor for Cambridge University Press. Crystal was awarded the OBE in 1995 and became a Fellow of the British Academy in 2000. After the company's acquisition by Ad Pepper Media N.

David Crystal OBE FBA FLSW (born July 6 1941) is a linguist academic and author.