My Word!
My Word! was a BBC radio quiz program, which aired from 1956-1988. In the first half of each program, four panelists (always two men, two women) were asked questions about word definitions, origins and derivations, or the source of literary quotations, by the host. In the second half, the two male panelists, Frank Muir and Denis Norden, were given a quotation each. Muir and Norden then made up a comic story, ending with some twisted version (usually involving puns) of the quote. (The story round was omitted if either Muir or Norden were absent.) For more details about the show, please see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Word! It’s difficult to date most of these programs precisely. I’ve included dates supplied by the Global British Comedy Collaborative: http://www.thegbcc.info/w-cy/My_Word.html where available. Otherwise, I’ve simply divided the episodes into eras according to the hosts and panelists. No episodes from the first year of the show are in general circulation. 1957-1961 Host: Jack Longland Panelists : Frank Muir, Denis Norden, E. Arnot Robertson, Nancy Spain First word: Borsch / Muir quote: A rose by any other name would smell as sweet / Norden quote: The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea First word: Moraine / Muir quote: From the sublime to the ridiculous / Norden quote: All is lost except honour / Broadcast date: 6/3/1959 --------------------- 1961-1964 Host: Jack Longland Panelists: Frank Muir, Denis Norden, Dilys Powell, Nancy Spain First word: Agoraphobia / Muir quote: He flies through the air with the greatest of ease / Norden quote: With all her faults, I love her still / Broadcast date: 7/8/1962 First word: Burke / Muir quote: If you go down in the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise / Norden quote: In the shade of the old apple tree First word: Coven / Muir quote: It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature / Norden quote: Are you sick or are you sullen First word: Desiderata / Muir quote: Oh what a beautiful morning / Norden quote: Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean First word: Dressage / Muir quote: It was roses, roses all the way / Norden quote: Take a pair of sparkling eyes First word: Emeritus / Muir quote: I wonder who's kissing her now / Norden quote: Here's to the girl with a pair of blue eyes First word: Galantine / Muir quote: I'm getting married in the morning / Norden quote: Revenge is a kind of wild justice First word: Gharry / Muir quote: I am a citizen of the world / Norden quote: I don't want to play in your yard First word: Gibus / Muir quote: When you come to the end of a perfect day / Norden quote: The age of chivalry is gone / Broadcast date: 8/26/1962 First word: Gingival / Muir quote: Don't put all your eggs into one basket / Norden quote: Slow and steady wins the race First word: Glossographer / Muir quote: You're the flower of my heart, sweet Adeline / Norden quote: Is it a world to hide virtues in First word: Gustation / Muir quote: If you have tears, prepare to shed them now / Norden quote: There are fairies at the bottom of our garden / Broadcast date: 9/23/1962 First word: Hagiolatry / Muir quote: A little more than kin, and less than kind / Norden quote: All quiet on the Western front First word: Hebetude / Muir quote: And so to bed / Norden quote: There is a happy land far far away First word: Henna / Muir quote: Seated one day at the organ / Norden quote: The old folks at home / Broadcast date: 7/1/1962 First word: Hydromel / Muir quote: I'm gonna wash that man right out of my hair / Norden quote: In the great right of an excessive wrong First word: Hyperphysical / Muir quote: He who laughs last laughs the longest / Norden quote: A new broom sweeps clean / Broadcast date: 12/25/1961 First word: Irenic / Muir quote: Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner / Norden quote: O death, where is thy sting? / Broadcast date: 8/12/1962 First word: Jacobus / Muir quote: I have nothing to declare except my genius / Norden quote: The bigger they come, the harder they fall First word: Janeite / Muir quote: The die is cast / Norden quote: Keep right on to the end of the road First word: Marginalia / Muir quote: My bonny lies over the ocean / Norden quote: Two blacks do not make a white First word: Mattoid / Muir quote: Anything awful makes me laugh / Norden quote: The shape of things to come First word: Ostreophagist / Muir quote: Honi soit, qui mal y pense / Norden quote: Against the undivulged pretense I fight First word: Planchet / Muir quote: O for the touch of a vanished hand / Norden quote: One flower makes no garland First word: Polyhistor / Muir quote: We've been together now for forty years / Norden quote: Shoot, Father, I am not afraid First word: Rahat Loqum / Muir quote: I will return / Norden quote: Should auld acquaintance be forgot First word: Riviere / Muir quote: Ring down the curtain, the farce is over / Norden quote: There never was a good war or a bad peace First word: Romaunt / Muir quote: The better part of valor