About this episode
Michael Rosen explores how different languages describe smells with cognitive scientist Asifa Majid.
Michael Rosen on the words used to describe the qualities of smells in different languages. Asifa Majid is Professor of Cognitive Science at Oxford and her research has found that some do it much better than others. She puts Michael to the test to see how English stacks up. Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Beth O'Dea, in partnership with the Open University Subscribe to the Word of Mouth podcast and never miss an episode: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b006qtnz
People in this episode
Host: Michael Rosen
Guest: Asifa Majid
Topics covered
- language
- smell
- cognitive science
- cultural differences
- descriptive words
Keywords
- smell
- language
- cognitive science
- descriptive words
- cultural differences
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: BBC Radio 4, Open University, BBC Audio Bristol
Places: Oxford
More episodes of Word of Mouth
- How did people speak throughout history? · June 4, 2026 · 28 min
- Words to Love the Living World · May 28, 2026 · 28 min
- The World of Words: editing, typography and print · May 21, 2026 · 28 min
- Oracy: We Need to Talk · May 14, 2026 · 28 min
- Michael Rosen and Dara Ó Briain talk about time · May 7, 2026 · 48 min
- Language Extinction · February 19, 2026 · 28 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Word of Mouth podcast page.