Presented by Victoria Coren, it was companion to the Oxford English Dictionary's Wordhunt, in which the writers of the dictionary asked the public for help in finding the origins and first known citations of a number of words and phrases. The OED panel consisted of John Simpson, the Chief Editor of the OED; Peter Gilliver, who was also the captain of the Oxford University Press team in University Challenge - the Professionals; and Tania Styles, who also appeared in "dictionary corner" in Countdown.
15 episodes total
Status
Ended
First Aired
2006
Rating
9.0/10
1 votes • HD
People
Episodes
Episode 1 • Jan 02, 2006
Episode 2 • Jan 09, 2006
Episode 3 • Jan 15, 2006
Episode 4 • Jan 22, 2006
Episode 5 • Jan 29, 2006
Episode 6 • Feb 06, 2006
Episode 1 • May 11, 2007
The OED thought Balderdash & Piffle were just the people to help out with words relating to madness. And they were right - wordhunters triumphed with all five words and phrases for which the OED needed help.
Episode 2 • May 18, 2007
Dog has one of the longest entries in the dictionary - thanks to more than 250 different doggy phrases. The OED asked for our help with five of these, and we're wagging our tails to have succeeded with four of them
Episode 3 • May 25, 2007
The OED asked us to investigate how we prefer to call a spade a shoveling implement, especially when talking about sex, death or going to the toilet. They challenged us to help with five euphemisms and we managed four.
Episode 4 • May 31, 2007
From prison slang to gangster speak, the dodgy language of the underworld is colourful and inventive. The OED requested help with six dodgy terms and the Wordhunt nailed five of these.
Episode 5 • Jun 07, 2007
Some of the most thumbed entries in the OED are those containing the naughty words. The Wordhunt tied up four out of the five word mysteries on the list, and - as an off-shoot of the Wordhunt - a word not on the list, 'dogger', was given a new sense.
Episode 6 • Jun 22, 2007
The OED politely asked us to assist them with five put downs and insults. We sparked changes with evidence for three words on the list.
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