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Tag Archives: john humphrys

April 12, 2017
by gpointon
0 comments

A sad time

I had started to think that someone in the BBC hierarchy had issued an edict that the Syrian president’s name should be pronounced by all journalists in accordance with the Pronunciation Unit’s recommendation, with stress on the first syllable of … Continue reading →

Categories: Language, Names | Tags: bbc, english, john humphrys, pronunciation, radio 4, reporters, speech | Permalink

November 13, 2012
by Graham
0 comments

Politics alert!

I don’t often comment on BBC politics or indeed any BBC matters apart from language use, but here goes: In the now notorious interview that George Entwistle gave to John Humphrys on the Radio 4 “Today” programme last Saturday morning, … Continue reading →

Categories: General | Tags: bbc, john humphrys, radio 4 | Permalink

March 18, 2012
by Graham
5 Comments

Hesitation, deviation, repetition

In a New Year broadcast, the veteran radio critic of the Daily Telegraph, Gillian Reynolds, took the BBC’s “Today” presenters to task for their umming and erring. When they were about to interview someone, she said, they must often have … Continue reading →

Categories: Language | Tags: bbc, english, john humphrys, pronunciation, radio 4 | Permalink

March 1, 2010
by Graham
0 comments

Bleck Het

John Humphrys has been sounding off about the English language – again. Why is it that reporters – journalists – believe that because language is their stock in trade, therefore they know all about it? This particular article, published in … Continue reading →

Categories: Language | Tags: bbc, david crystal, english, john humphrys, journalists, reporters | Permalink

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  • Radio 3 (2)
    • Graham: Tim – I think that Robin must have recorded the majority of those fillers before my time at the BBC. He...
    • Tim Atkinson: You don’t recall those excellent little “fillers” Robin Holmes recorded, do you?...
  • Richard III – The Reunion (4)
    • Graham: Eric – do mineralogists call themselves minerologists, then, or say that the pronunciation...
    • Phillip Minden: Descriptive linguists can have preferences, just like a professional tea taster. And inside...
    • Eric Armstrong: A quick look on YouGlish reveals that UK speakers are much more likely to pronounce “genealogy” with...
  • Souls and Ghouls (22)
    • Graham: What a mistake to make! Of course I always knew that Birkenhead was in Cheshire, even if the Wirral is now...
    • Dee Congdon: I had to laugh when this article described Patricia Routledge as a Lancastrian. Birkenhead, where she...
  • The Queen’s English – literally (2)
    • Graham: Sidney – I’ve not only just read Fabricius (2007) but also gone back to the Harrington et al...
    • Sidney Wood: Fabricius (2007 in JIPA) found that virtually no-one born after 1945 acquired the old closer TRAP in RP....
  • Accentism (3)
    • Sidney Wood: Graham, that’s a neater way of putting it. No deliberate decisions to change. And which direction...
    • Graham: Sidney – I can’t say that my accent is the same now as it was fifty five years ago, just before I...
    • Sidney Wood: Graham, regarding the last paragraph. In the 1950s as my national (military) service was coming to an...
  • How do you pronounce ‘GH’? (2)
    • Graham: Good point! I wasn’t considering such compounds.
    • Laura Nass: also “stronghold” and “bighearted”
  • Slivers or Slithers (6)
    • Graham: Mink – I’m sure you’re right. Your phrase “phonetic overgeneralisation” is what...

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