In every word, a microhistory

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In this week’s World in Words podcast, Anamika Veeramani won the National Spelling Bee by correctly spelling the word “stromuhr”. It’s one of many English words in the contest that sound decidedly unEnglish. After a report on that, we speak with David Wolman, whose book “Righting the Mother Tongue” traces the anarchic evolution of English spelling. English is barely policed: foreign words, often with foreign spelling intact, migrate unhindered into the language. Download MP3

Tech Podcast: Digital genome goes underground

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In this week’s technology podcast, we hear about how, and why, a team of archivists and technologists have buried our “digital genome” underneath a Swiss mountain. You’ll also hear about Google’s Europe woes, and about the Pakistani government’s decision to deny access to Facebook. Plus, two homages: one to the man who invented the ATM, and the other…to Pac-Man. (Photo: Planets Project)

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British English as it is, was, and could have been

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In the latest podcast, an audio archive of British World War One POWs recorded by a German linguist. That’s followed by the story of how British convenience store chain Spar is re-writing wine labels in Scottish, Liverpudlian and other UK dialects. Then, how English might have sounded had the Saxons won the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Then, back to the the present day, as an ATM company uses cockney rhyming slang to dispense cash. Finally, American anglophiles on lorries, cricket bats and other linguistic oddities.

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Cockney rhyming cash machines in London

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A cash machine operator has introduced Cockney rhyming slang to a number of ATMs in east London. Users can choose between English and Cockney, a form of English spoken by many who live in east London. In Cockney rhyming slang, for example, “sausage and mash” is substituted for “cash.” And your “Huckleberry Finn?” Well that’s your PIN of course. The World’s Laura Lynch ventured into east London to get the Morning Glory. Download MP3

• More BBC coverage
• Article from The Guardian
• More on Cockney rhyming slang