Balderdash and Piffle
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(April 2015) |
| Balderdash and Piffle | |
|---|---|
| Created by | BBC |
| Starring | Victoria Corenet al. |
| No.of episodes | 15 (+1 follow-up) |
| Production | |
| Producer | Takeaway Media |
| Running time | 30 Minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC Two |
| Release | 2 January 2006– 6 July 2007 |
Balderdash and Piffleis a Britishtelevisionprogramme onBBCin which the writers of theOxford English Dictionaryasked the public for help in finding the origins and first known citations of a number of words and phrases. Presented byVictoria Coren,it was a companion to the dictionary'sWordhuntproject.
TheOEDpanel consisted ofJohn Simpson,the Chief Editor of theOED;Peter Gilliver,who was also the captain of theOxford University Pressteam inUniversity Challenge: The Professionals;andetymologistTania Styles,[1][2]who also appeared in the "dictionary corner" inCountdown.[2]
Series 1
[edit]The first series ofBalderdash and Pifflewas originally broadcast in January 2006, each programme being based around a letter. Following the conclusion of the first series, a follow-up episode aired on 16 April 2006 with updates on the discoveries members of the public had made, resulting in several further changes to the dictionary.
Series 2
[edit]A newWordhuntbegan in January 2007 and the results featured in the second series of the programme which premiered on Friday 11 May at 10pm on BBC Two.
The second series was divided thematically. Victoria Coren was joined by guest reporters who attempted to trace theetymologyand first documentary use of words, based on suggestions from the British public. Victoria Coren then took the evidence they had found to a panel ofOEDstaff, who decided whether this evidence was sufficient to include in the dictionary.
The books
[edit]Balderdash and Piffleis also the name given to two books written byAlex Games.The first, titledBalderdash and Pifflewas published byBBC Booksin 2006. A second book, also by Alex Games and published by BBC Books, is titledBalderdash and Piffle: One sandwich short of a dog's dinnerand accompanied the second series of the show.
The two books explore the origins of a number of words in the English language, includingrandy,shampooandbouncy castle.
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References
[edit]- ^"Current staff of the OED – Oxford English Dictionary".Retrieved10 April2018.
- ^ab"Tania Styles".IMDb.Retrieved10 April2018.
External links
[edit]- Balderdash and PiffleatBBC Online
- BBCBalderdash and Pifflesite
- Oxford English Dictionary's Balderdash and Piffle site
- Takeaway Media, the producers of the series, with more on each programme
- More information on theBalderdash and Pifflebooks
- Balderdash and PiffleatIMDb
