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

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

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.

Download MP3

“Eers one helluva Merlot!”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Not sure if “long legs” are a good thing in a glass of wine? Well, a supermarket chain in Britain wants to make it easier for customers unfamiliar with wine speak. Spar is experimenting with wine labels written in local slang so shoppers are not intimidated by the usual flowery language. Download MP3

• Guardian newspaper story
• Our weekly language podcast: The World in Words