Textspeak
Is English being reduced? With text-speak, abbreviations, Twitter and bite-size English, Michael Rosen asks if we now talk and write in shortened language, and if that matters.
Michael Rosen on the uses and abuses of textspeak. Is the English language being abbreviated away?
Writer Will Cohu thinks texting has changed the way we communicate with each other.
Students at William Morris Sixth Form tell Michael how they use their phones to talk - exploding a few popular preconceptions along the way.
Professor David Crystal puts the use of texting language into context, and Canadian linguist Joan Lee discusses her research on the subject.
And Nick D'Aloisio talks about the mobile phone app he's created which condenses and summarises news articles for a time-poor generation.
Producer Beth O'Dea.
Last on
Broadcasts
- Tue 27 Mar 201216:00BBC Radio 4
- Mon 2 Apr 201223:00BBC Radio 4
Listen to Michael Rosen in conversation with The Open University
Hear Michael reveal his own language journey.
Idioms Quiz
Explore why languages have idioms with The Open University’s quiz.
Explore the OU’s Cultural Idioms Guide
Explore how some cultural idioms entered the English Language.
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.
Podcast
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Word of Mouth
Series exploring the world of words and the ways in which we use them
