On language

Language can be thought of in many ways.

It could mean the actual languages we speak, named. Here at WMYP, we have loads of languages, including varying levels of English, as well as Farsi, Urdu, Bengali, Arabic, Dutch, Somali and Welsh. (It's not a shared one here, Welsh. But everyone likes hearing me recite the alphabet. By the time you get to the 11th letter, ng, there has been a whole lot of gurning and spitting going on)

A recent visitor to WMYP, Lucy, said, food is the language that everyone speaks and I loved that too. Food is a way of communicating, sharing, bonding. It can be shared without words. I've seen it build bonds here. It's one of the reasons everyone here has lunch together, every day.

But words - whether verbal or written or in sign or braille - are what we mostly use, and working here has got me thinking about the nuances we often employ in English.

Communication in our tiny factory will regularly include sentences that I would shrink from.

'Don't do that.', 'No that is wrong, do this'. 'You must stop'

None of the amelioration or softening, none of the 'that's great but' which frequently often means 'that's not great.' And I hear these direct words between colleagues and I see that they are delivered with respect, with care, with a view to getting things right, better, doing well. And they work.

We talk a lot here. About what we are doing, what we want our future to be. I teach words like 'cashflow projection' and 'health and safety' and 'shops, offices and factories act' and get taught why you should be careful where you order cous cous (google it).

Some things seem to be shared - the phrase 'don;t put all your eggs in one basket' seems to be known in many languages. But others are - in hindsight - obviously weird. Why would someone think they have to fill in 'holiday request form' when they need a half day off, when they're not going on holiday? If you don't know 'holiday' means 'time off work' not 'a trip on a plane' why would you?

What quirks of language have you encountered? What are your favourite words?