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PROGRAMME INFO |
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Michael Rosen presents Radio 4's open door on the world of words and the way we speak. Email: word.of.mouth@bbc.co.uk |
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LISTEN AGAIN |
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PRESENTER |
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"As a child, I was surrounded by people talking about words and language, my
parents and brother spoke several languages. What's more the house always
seemed to be full of people telling stories and jokes, many of which turned
on some word-play or other.
I've been writing poems and stories since I was sixteen and if that doesn't
sensitise you to how language is used then nothing will. So with all that,
to present Word of Mouth feels like being at home. I love it."
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PROGRAMME DETAILS |
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Actresses
Has the word actress had its day when authoress, poetess and priestess have long since been abandoned? Michael traces the origins of the word from its roots in the Restoration with the help of Professor Carol Rutter of Warwick University. The actress and comedienne, Arabella Weir, explains why she's still happy with both her job descriptions.
Timber!
A Molly Hogan, a crumbie and a bull bucker are just some of the colourful terms used by loggers in the forests of the Pacific North West. Dylan Winter has been camping out on Vancouver Island, making a film about the working lives of the men there and reports for Word of Mouth on the rough hewn language of the logging industry. There's no mention though of the word "lumberjack" - a term, he's learned, that's only ever used to describe men who chop down trees on the East Coast.
Vulnerable
Academic Sue Jones traces the rise and possible demise of the word "vulnerable" in Social Policy circles. Who are "the vulnerable" and isn't it time politicians and the media started being a little more specific about just what it is people are "vulnerable" to, as they bandy the word about?
Bon Mot
The Germans are in the middle of a national competition to decide which is the single most beautiful word in the German language. Michael Rosen talks to Dr Richard Bolster from Bristol University about the way English cherry-picks the best vocabulary from other tongues - like zeitgeist, fiasco and chic - and whether there are some new delicious foreign words we ought to adopt.
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