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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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GOING FOR GOLD
Writing slogans is a tricky business. Words with a possible double meaning,
expressions that depend for their impact on the right emphasis or phrases open to sabotage by a bit of imaginative punctuation on the part of your opponents are all to be avoided.
The MP for West Ham and former Sports Minister, Tony Banks, joins Michael to discuss the language of promotion and to award the medals in our competition to find the worst possible slogan with which to promote Britain's bid for the Olympics in 2012.
The Winners were…..
Bronze: Mark Brindley "London - You're welcome to it!"
Silver: Lesley Prince "London - The home of jellied eels"
Gold: Tony Gill "London.....Olympics…..dream on!"
RIGHT THEN
The word right as in very is a cornerstone of speech in the North of England but in the South, it's rarely heard except in the rather formal setting of titles like Right Reverend or Right Honourable. The Yorkshire poet Ian MacMillan and the Co-Editor of Debrett's Peerage, Charles Kidd help Michael get to the bottom of this regional divide.
IN MEMORIAM
In the last show in the present series, we close the book of remembrance for dead words and phrases that listeners have sent in over the last eight weeks.
John Mullan, Senior Lecturer in English at University College London, explains what the loss of words like scullery and career girl tell us about the lives we live now.
CONFERENCE
The Party Conference Season is in full swing and the BBC's chief political correspondent, Mark Mardell - a veteran of these events - has been reflecting on the language of the platform, the hall and the fringe: what does compositing really mean and what's really being said when a politician refers to the conference rather than just conference.
Come and see Word of Mouth in action!
This programme is the last in this series and the show will be off the air until December, but Word of Mouth will be recording two programmes for the next series at the Cheltenham Festival during the afternoon of October 15th. If you have a question about language or usage that you'd like to ask our panel of experts at that event, then please e-mail
word.of.mouth@bbc.co.uk, or write to Word of Mouth, Bristol, BS8 2LR putting the word Cheltenham at the top of the page/on the envelope.
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