- Hello. We have in the studio today Amanda Rodoway, who is a head of Wordwatch. Amanda, firstly, could you tell us a little about Wordwatch and what do you do?
- Yes, of course. Well, the original idea of Wordwatch came up because we had a lot of people who wanted to know things about grammar and pronunciation, pronunciation mainly. And in organization like us with abroad casting and publishing addressed it seemed reasonable to set up an in-house department to deal with those ... To give you an example, a newsreader might have to read a report, let's say, the report has [bad word] in, and it has a word like, to say, Azerbaijan. now I mean if it's a newsflash and it's just a beginning of a story, let's say was be enough ... ending, it's perfectly possible they wouldn't know how to pronounce it. So what we do? What we have to do in our department? It's to be able to say at once what's the correct pronunciation is.
- I see, and is that basically what your role is? Mainly pronunciation.
- Oh, no, not now. That was the way we started, in halfs, as I said. But over the last twenty years or so our publishing division has grown a great deal. And when you're dealing with written English, you have to be a bit more careful because obviously if something in print, you can't get away with anything. 
- But do you have... What do you have there, a kind of grammar book?
- We call it a guide, a style guide. And it covers some of the more controversial points. They are the all chess advice like 'split infinities'. 
- Oh, sure people don't worry about them today. 
- Absolutely! You've been guaranteed that one of the newsreaders says something like 'the security consul accord pole [bad word] call immediately implement united nations resolutions as dead of implement of united resolutions immediately' we've been ... to call them ired views but, as a matter of fact, I don't personally think with anything particularly wrong with 'split infinitives' and a Guide actually says that too. Because although dependence in the traditionalists make it very upset about it.What we doing Wordwatch is to try reflect what is generally to be considered exceptable in [bad word] 
- But is that [bad word] in what you're saying is that you basically keep up the trends on the whole event? And I know someone gets very upset when people say 'less' instead of 'fewer', so, you know, there were 'less' people on the streets yesterday evening, mean is that wrong?
- I think probably yes. Though that particular point is in a state of phlox and I should imagine that in 50-years time a word like 'fewer' will see world as ok. but I think for the moment I would say that was not an exceptable thing, certainly in print.
- Other many people could listening who would say 'well, who used to tell us what to say and what not to say?' What gives you a right to impose your pre...?
- Oh, we are not saying..
- You've just said it yourself, you've said it was not exceptable thing.
- Yes, but that's not an imposition. We aren't dictating things gospel.
- Oh, I'm quite can see, have not.
- What is an important point, because we are a large organization with thousands employees and an all we do is to try to maintain a certain consistency. Now, within our organization we have every right to set standards whether they to do with dress or timekeeping or holiday pay or whatever. Or language is the same thing. It's a bit like part of our cool pro-image. Well' if people from outside bring up and of course they do all the time, what we do is simply tell them what we consider to be right or wrong, and they are free to accept it or not, as they please.
- So you are being prescriptive.
- But not dictatorial. And we try to steer a middle line between anything go school and they dye in the world traditionally, because at the end of the day we full fill in need and there are people who want to know what is ri