Word of Mouth - Crash Bang Wallop: The Sound of Words
Download Crash Bang Wallop: The Sound of Words
Michael Rosen is joined by linguist Dr Catherine Laing to discuss onomatopoeia and other words that sound like their meanings. Not just words for sounds like 'crash' and 'bang', or words for animal noises like 'woof' and 'quack', but also other words which perhaps hold something of their meaning within their form. Is there something rough about the word 'rough'? Does 'smooth' feel smooth? And how can we play with this in everyday speech and in poetry?
Produced by Becky Ripley, in partnership with the Open University.
Published on Thursday, 11th September 2025.
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