It’s not just about the covfefe.
This week, we are buried under an avalanche of words, and we’re trying to dig ourselves out. Yes, covfefe happened, but Wonder Woman has also given rise to an ascendant gynocracy. And what …
It’s not just about the covfefe.
This week, we are buried under an avalanche of words, and we’re trying to dig ourselves out. Yes, covfefe happened, but Wonder Woman has also given rise to an ascendant gynocracy. And what …
English used to look a lot different.
We used to use a lot of letters that no longer exist. They had names like eth, wynn, thorn, and ash. Ben, Kylie, and Daniel talk about …
They’ll, we’ve, you’re, and even ain’t.
This week, we’re having contractions, but not the muscular kind — the word kind! We squash words together all the time, but why? And how well can you recognise them?…
We’re taking your questions on a Mailbag episode!
Along the way, we’re going to find out some pretty strange things about how words and phrases got to be how they are. Do you say zero or oh? What is …
You asked. We answer.
Why do we talk the way we do? Where do our words and phrases come from? And why are they sometimes so very strange?
Linguist Daniel Midgley has something for everyone on this episode of Talk …
Did Melania Trump really plagiarise that speech?
Yeah, she totally did. But how can you tell if someone is copying someone else’s work? How do plagiarism checkers work? And can you beat them?
Linguist Daniel Midgley shows his work on …
The Talk the Talk team is taking a break, but Daniel jumped at the chance to speak to Louisa Fitzhardinge, whose new comedy show ‘Comma Sutra’ looks at the lighter side of the use — and misuse — of …
Can you hear colours? Or smell sounds?
We’re starting to understand synaesthesia — the blending of senses that some people experience. Now language researchers are using synaesthesia to understand how we process language, and even how language got started in …
What happens when emoji go wrong?
We all love to use emoji, but their inherent ambiguity means that misunderstandings can happen — not only across cultures, but across devices.
Linguist Daniel Midgley makes it clear on this episode of Talk …
Sometimes English spelling doesn’t make much sense.
But even though many influential people have tried to reform our wacky orthography, the anomalies persist. Will English spelling reform ever work?
Linguist Daniel Midgley spells it out on this episode of Talk …
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