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Q. What is the best way to learn a language A. For those of you who had to learn and be able to recite Latin or Greek irregular verbs by rote - while knowing that there would probably never be a
00:00 Mon 24th Sep 2001Q. What does eisteddfod mean A. Literally a 'session' from the Welsh verb eistedd, meaning 'to sit'. The idea is that both audience and artist sit throughout the performance. The proper Welsh plural
00:00 Mon 24th Sep 2001Q. Why all the fuss over Ian Brady's new book A. Moors murderer Ian Brady is to publish a book this November. Publisher Feral Press of Los Angeles will be printing around 8,000 copies of the 320-page
00:00 Mon 17th Sep 2001Q. What was the Tyburn Tree A. The 'tree' was the gallows at Tyburn, London. So 'to take a ride to Tyburn' was to go to one's hanging or, by inference, to one's death. In its heyday, Tyburn was the
00:00 Mon 17th Sep 2001Q. Sweet what A. The full phrase is 'Sweet Fanny Adams', shortened to 'Sweet FA' or 'SFA', and it means 'nothing at all' in the sense that 'I got Sweet FA for my trouble.' Q. Why Fanny Adams A.
00:00 Mon 17th Sep 2001Q. Is it a game of two halves A. Not half. The football clich has become part of everyday speech, with 'sick as a parrot', 'over the moon' and 'the lads done well' becoming intrinsic - to greater
00:00 Mon 17th Sep 2001Q. Is English an odd language A. English is not in itself any odder a language than any other, though it is not a regular language in the way that Malay is. The spelling system, however, is one of
00:00 Mon 10th Sep 2001Q. ...and west is west A. And never the twain shall meet. Not strictly true, at least not since the earth ceased to be flat. Go far enough westwards and you'll arrive back at your starting point
00:00 Mon 10th Sep 2001Q. Why do we get 'the blues' A. A fit of the blues or feeling blue, meaning that one depressed or in low spirits, is short for Blue Devils. Q. Why blue A. Studies have shown that workers in the
00:00 Mon 10th Sep 2001Q. Once in a blue moon A. The phrase means 'very rarely', and it is derives from those extremely rare occasions that the moon actually does appear to be blue. Q. What makes the moon blue A. The
00:00 Mon 03rd Sep 2001Q. What are linguistic isolates A. Literally, languages that have no recognised family relationship to any other living or known historical language. Q. As distinct from A. Most languages belong
00:00 Mon 03rd Sep 2001Q. Why 'bank' holidays A. It's as obvious as it sounds. Bank holidays are days - literally - on which banks may close for business. Q. Why 'bank' and not 'fishmonger' then, if fishmongers are also
00:00 Mon 03rd Sep 2001Q. What is oral history A. It is a method of gathering and preserving historical information through recorded interviews with participants in past events and disappearing ways of life. It is both
00:00 Mon 27th Aug 2001Q. What is a thesaurus A. A thesaurus is useful for many things. It is a book of synonyms and antonyms, a dictionary of alternative expressions and a treasury of linguistic equivalents. In short, a
00:00 Mon 27th Aug 2001Q. Ny gonvedhaf Kernewek. Do you A. Probably not, unless you're one of the few people who have taken it upon themselves to revive the ancient - though now officially 'dead' - Celtic language of
00:00 Mon 27th Aug 2001Q. Is what A. Love it or hate it, sport, and the way it affects the language that we speak, seems impossible to avoid. So lets 'get off the blocks' and see how many we can 'knock out'. Q. Speaking
00:00 Mon 20th Aug 2001Q. What is Polari A. Polari (or Palarie) was a gay slang, almost an alternative language, and is best described as a mish-mash of expressions and words from many sources thrown together to make an
00:00 Mon 20th Aug 2001Q. Where's the beef A. Taken from a 1984 Wendy hamburgers advert, 'where's the beef ' now means 'cut the waffle and get to the meat of what you're trying to say'. In the ad an old lady bought a
00:00 Mon 20th Aug 2001Q. When did politicians' advisers start being referred to as 'spin doctors' A. The tag was first used in The New York Times in 1984, during President Reagan's campaign for a second term in office.
00:00 Mon 13th Aug 2001Q. The Horseshoe or Shoe's Bar A. Breweries are calling time on ancient pub names and are being accused of destroying Britain's cultural heritage. There is a growing fashion for rebranding pubs with
00:00 Mon 13th Aug 2001
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