Proper English

This week we're having an unscripted chat about what we would do if we won the lottery! This week's idiom is 'Crawling out of the woodwork.'

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This week, we're tackling the thorny issue of prepositions associated with location - and the Idiom of the Week is 'At the drop of a hat.'

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In this episode we're considering some more of those little confusions of pronunciation and grammar that come up every now and then. Sylvia is giving her friend Mabel some much-needed encouragement i…

This week, we're examining the very British habit of apologising - and the little old ladies find themselves in 'a sorry state of affairs', this week's idiom…

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This week, we're all about abbreviations - and our intrepid detectives, Davidson and Roberts are illustrating the idiom 'On the QT' while on a stakeout.

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This week, Mabel and Sylvia are helping us come up with some more phrasal verbs to do with health matters. The Idiom of the Week 'A Bitter Pill to Swallow.'

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This week, we're having an unscripted chat about pet hates - things you really don't like - and Sylvia and Mabel, the two little old ladies, are illustrating the idiom 'To blow the whistle on someone…

We did it! We got to episode 100! So in this week's episode, we're looking back on the last two years of Proper English, talking about the use of the word 'hundred' - and in this week's Idiom of the …

This week, we're talking about Ali's favourite animals - elephants (I bet you thought I was going to say cats)! The Idiom of the Week is 'A White Elephant.'

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This week we're talking about all the different words, phrases and idioms we have in English describe things or people that we find annoying. We use quite a few in this episode! And those two little …

Questions, questions, questions. We have been asked so many - and we're taking the opportunity to answer some of them this week. And those lovely old ladies are back, illustrating this week's idiom: …

This week, we're devoting a whole episode to answering a bunch of grammar-related questions that start 'What's the difference between…?' Meanwhile, our hapless detectives, Davidson and Roberts, are t…

This week we're looking at words and phrases that enhance the meaning of verbs and other major word groups. Meanwhile, Roxy and Sergeant Roberts are defining the idiom 'Sticking your head above the p…

This week, we're looking at vocabulary associated with the theatre - and this week's idiom is 'Let's get this show on the road!'

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This month sees World Book Day being celebrated all round the world, so we thought we'd have an unscripted chat about books this week. The Idiom of the Week is 'Comparing apples with oranges.'

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This week's episode is another in our occasional series concerned with phrasal verbs - this time we're looking at vocabulary associated with shopping! The two Yorkshire ladies are talking about clums…

Despite the title, this is not a Valentine's Day special - it's all about three little words in the English language that can sometimes be a bit of a handful - this week's idiom is 'Sick as a parrot.…

This week, we're talking about rude words - we're talking about them, but we're not saying them! Davidson and Roberts are back this week, talking about problems at work and the idiom 'To let off stea…

This week, we're looking into the rules governing adjective order. You didn't know about them? Well, you will after this episode. The Idiom of the Week is 'Every cloud has a silver lining.'
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This week, we're talking about kicking up a fuss, being critical - yes, we're talking about complaining. Meanwhile, Roxy and Sgt Roberts are illustrating this week's Idiom: 'To nip it in the bud.'

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