Word of Mouth Podcast
Series exploring the world of words and the ways in which we use them
Episodes to download
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Emoji: The Future of Language?
Tue 21 Feb 2017
Is emoji really the world's fastest-growing language? Michael Rosen finds out.
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Intonation: The Music of Speaking
Tue 14 Feb 2017
Michael Rosen explores the tunes we sing when we are speaking, without even realising it.
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Pet or Pest? The revealing words we use about animals, and dog names
Tue 7 Feb 2017
Michael Rosen on the language we use to talk about animals - and the names we give dogs.
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Words Roadshow in Birmingham
Tue 31 Jan 2017
Michael Rosen discusses interesting family words and phrases with listeners in Birmingham.
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Susie Dent on Language
Tue 18 Oct 2016
Michael Rosen talks to Countdown's Susie Dent about her love of words and language.
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Reading: The Science and the Pleasure
Tue 11 Oct 2016
BBC LovetoRead campaign: Michael Rosen on the pleasure of and the science behind reading.
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Snotrils and Jumpolines: Kids' Invented Words
Tue 4 Oct 2016
Michael Rosen on the creative use and misuse of language by children.
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Small Talk
Tue 27 Sep 2016
Michael Rosen talks to psychotherapist Philippa Perry about the importance of small talk.
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Directions: North South East and West
Tue 20 Sep 2016
Michael Rosen uncovers how people talk and think about directions in different languages.
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Lost Words and Secret Connections
Tue 13 Sep 2016
Michael Rosen on discovering lost words and finding hidden linguistic connections.
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Punctuation
Tue 24 May 2016
Michael Rosen talks to Keith Houston about punctuation symbols and how they came to exist.
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Andrew Graham-Dixon on the naming of art movements
Tue 17 May 2016
Michael Rosen and Andrew Graham-Dixon on the naming of art movements and what it tells us.
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Snuck and Sung: Irregular Verbs
Tue 10 May 2016
Michael Rosen explores the verbs that are called irregular, and how they came to be.
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Roald Dahl's Language
Tue 3 May 2016
Michael Rosen on a new Roald Dahl dictionary collecting the amazing words he invented.
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PR - How Not To Do It
Tue 26 Apr 2016
Michael Rosen on the words used in PR that have been rated as the most annoying. Iconic...
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Metaphors for the Past: From Dinosaurs to Victorian Values
Tue 19 Apr 2016
Michael Rosen on how we talk about historical eras in order to define how we live now.
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House Names
Tue 12 Apr 2016
Michael Rosen talks to Dr Laura Wright about her new research on popular house names.
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Steven Pinker on Language
Tue 5 Apr 2016
Steven Pinker joins Michael Rosen to talk about his love of, and life in, language.
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Tip of the Tongue
Tue 1 Mar 2016
Michael Rosen on one of the most frustrating language states: tip of the tongue.
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Talking or Texting?
Tue 23 Feb 2016
Michael Rosen on research into the emotional effects of different kinds of communication.
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Mouthpiece: Turning the Spoken Word into Songs
Tue 16 Feb 2016
Michael Rosen hears about a project to turn interviews recorded in Parliament into songs.
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Taking Turns in Conversation
Tue 9 Feb 2016
Michael Rosen and Laura Wright discuss how we take it in turns to talk, in conversation.
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The Top 20 Words in English
Tue 2 Feb 2016
Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright guide listeners through the 20 most commonly used words.
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How Shakespeare Spoke
Tue 26 Jan 2016
Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright discover how Shakespeare spoke.
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Slang
Tue 19 Jan 2016
What is slang? Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright thrash it out with Jonathon Green.
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Language Evolution: A Gene for Language?
Tue 27 Oct 2015
Neuroscientist Dr Frederique Liegeois joins Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright.
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Gorilla gorilla gorilla: Latin names for animals and plants
Tue 20 Oct 2015
Michael Rosen explores the wonderful Latin names used to describe animals and plants.
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The Alphabet
Tue 13 Oct 2015
Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright take us through the A-Z of the alphabet.
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Inventing Brand Names
Tue 6 Oct 2015
Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright look into how new commercial brand names are invented.
Listen to Michael Rosen in conversation with The Open University
Hear Michael reveal his own language journey.
Explore the OU’s Cultural Idioms Guide
Explore how some cultural idioms entered the English Language.
Idioms Quiz
Explore why languages have idioms with The Open University’s quiz.
From blunk to brickfielder: our wonderful words for weather
Exploring creative descriptions for wind, rainfall and sunny spells from around the world
Digital body language – how to communicate better online
We need to find new ways of talking to each other “virtually”.
Coinages that changed the world – and some that tried to...
Exploring the hidden histories of obscure words, and common buzz phrases.
Ittibitium, borborygmus, and Ba humbugi – 14 wonderful science words you’ve never heard of
Michael Rosen puts the language of science under the microscope.
Download this programme
Subscribe to this programme or download individual episodes.
Keywords for Our Time
Series of programmes examining key phrases in public debate.
Smiley face: Seven things you didn't know about emoji
Some facts about emoji - possibly the world's first truly global form of communication.
The funny words that kids invent
Have a look at some of the fantastic words that children invent and reimagine.
