Word of Mouth
Episodes
Tip of the Tongue
01 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
It's an experience we've all had - desperately trying to recall a word. You might know the letter it begins with, the letter it ends with, but it just...
Talking or Texting?
23 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
We take it for granted that we can maintain our friendships and family relationships now in so many ways: phone, voicemail, email, text, instant messa...
Mouthpiece: Turning the Spoken Word into Songs
16 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Rosen & Laura Wright hear about Mouthpiece, a project in which composer Jennifer Bell has been given access to interview people from the S...
Taking Turns in Conversation
09 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Rosen and linguist Dr Laura Wright discuss how well we judge taking it in turns when we're in conversation. Professor Stephen Levinson has new...
The Top 20 Words in English
02 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright guide us through the top 20 words in English. Not the best or most popular (that would include tentacular, ping-pong...
How Shakespeare Spoke
26 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Forget Laurence Olivier and Peggy Ashcroft, Al Pacino and Judi Dench. To take us back to Shakespeare's own time Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright hear...
Slang
19 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
What is slang, where does it come from, and which subjects attract the most slang words? Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright thrash it out with lexicogr...
Language Evolution: A Gene for Language?
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
How come humans learn to speak and use language in extraordinarily sophisticated ways, without any conscious effort, while other animals do not? Recen...
Gorilla gorilla gorilla: Latin names for animals and plants
20 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright talk to River Cottage natural forager and writer John Wright about the surprising and wonderful Latin names used to ...
The Alphabet
13 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright take us through the A-Z of the alphabet, with the help of Professor Nils Langer. How do we come to have the letters ...
Inventing Brand Names
12 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Rosen & Dr Laura Wright look into how new commercial brand names are invented, with Greg Rowland, the semiotician who came up with the nam...
Romance and Romanticism
29 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In a romantic edition, Michael Rosen, Dr Laura Wright and Professor John Mullan explore the clusters of meanings and differences between the words rom...
Reading: Print v eBooks
22 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Rosen & Dr Laura Wright discuss with linguist Professor Naomi Baron the quantifiable differences between the experience of reading print b...
Number Words
21 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
First in series. Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright explore the numbers one to ten and look at how we understand - and misunderstand - the language of ...
Non-Verbal Communication
26 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Rosen and Laura Wright sob, hum and buzz as they consider whether the sound of a word has any connection with its meaning. With guest Professo...