"If you want to hide something in the 21st century world, you don't need to create a James Bond style plot. Just cover it in acronyms".
Gillian Tett is a columnist at the Financial Times, but she initially trained as a cultural anthropologist, studying marriage rituals in Tajikistan.
She joins Michael Rosen to discuss how the study of language has been vital to her work, who continues to see the world through the lens of an anthropologist. The pair talk about the etymology of words like 'company', 'office', and 'bank', why we should all speak more like the Dutch, how Brits in the workplace are more similar to the Japanese, and why it would be useful for all of us to think more like an anthropologist.
Gillian Tett is the author of Fool's Gold, The Silo Effect, and Antho-Vision.
Producer: Eliza Lomas, BBC Audio Bristol.
Like, Totally Awesome: The Americanisation of English
Emoji: The Future of Language?
Intonation: The Music of Speaking
Pet or Pest? The revealing words we use about animals, and dog names
Words Roadshow in Birmingham
Susie Dent on Language
Reading: The Science and the Pleasure
Snotrils and Jumpolines: Kids' Invented Words
Small Talk
Directions: North South East and West
Lost Words and Secret Connections
Break Ups and Brexit
Punctuation
Andrew Graham-Dixon on the naming of art movements
Snuck and Sung: Irregular Verbs
Roald Dahl's Language
PR - How Not To Do It
Metaphors for the Past: From Dinosaurs to Victorian Values
House Names
Steven Pinker on Language
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Global News Podcast
The Infinite Monkey Cage
Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4
You’re Dead to Me
Elis James and John Robins