Main content

25/12/2012

Michael Rosen meets linguists, historians, students and sequence dancers to find out why the giving and receiving of compliments can be a complex and socially dangerous business.

Michael Rosen meets linguists, historians, students and sequence dancers to find out why the giving and receiving of compliments can be a complex and dangerous business. He meets language students in Cheltenham and sequence dancers in North London, who each have very different responses to people saying nice things to them. He talks to a personal development tutor and an etiquette coach about the do's and dont's of positive feedback. And he talks to the Swansea linguist studying why people feel uncomfortable with compliments. The difficulty is not the compliment, it's the response. How do you reply positively and politely without sounding arrogant? Michael discovers that our tendency towards post-modern irony makes a sincere compliment a difficult manoeuvre to complete - so even if you can say something nice, it may still be best to say nothing at all.

Producer: John Byrne.

Available now

28 minutes

Last on

Mon 31 Dec 2012 23:00

Broadcasts

  • Christmas Day 2012 16:00
  • Mon 31 Dec 2012 23:00

From blunk to brickfielder: our wonderful words for weather

From blunk to brickfielder: our wonderful words for weather

Exploring creative descriptions for wind, rainfall and sunny spells from around the world

Digital body language – how to communicate better online

Digital body language – how to communicate better online

We need to find new ways of talking to each other β€œvirtually”.

Coinages that changed the world – and some that tried to...

Coinages that changed the world – and some that tried to...

Exploring the hidden histories of obscure words, and common buzz phrases.

Ittibitium, borborygmus, and Ba humbugi – 14 wonderful science words you’ve never heard of

Ittibitium, borborygmus, and Ba humbugi – 14 wonderful science words you’ve never heard of

Michael Rosen puts the language of science under the microscope.

Download this programme

Subscribe to this programme or download individual episodes.

Keywords for Our Time

Series of programmes examining key phrases in public debate.

Smiley face: Seven things you didn't know about emoji

Some facts about emoji - possibly the world's first truly global form of communication.

The funny words that kids invent

Have a look at some of the fantastic words that children invent and reimagine.

Podcast