Unspeakable

Comedy of the Week

BBC

Comedy

3.8 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 13 April 2026

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This episode we hear Hugh Dennis's word for decision fatigue, Katy Wix's coinage for when you find yourself stuck telling a story in public to break an awkward silence, and Jess Fostekew's word for that nuggety squashed sock you find stuck inside a duvet cover.

Ever struggled to find the right word for a feeling or sensation? Unspeakable sees comedian Phil Wang and lexicographer Susie Dent invite celebrity guests to invent new linguistic creations, to solve those all too relatable moments when we're lost for words.

This is episode four from series three of Unspeakable. To hear more from this series, search "Unspeakable" on BBC Sounds.

Hosts: Phil Wang and Susie Dent Guests: Hugh Dennis, Jess Fostekew and Katy Wix Created by Joe Varley Writers: Matt Crosby and James Farmer Recorded by Jerry Peal Producer: Jon Harvey Executive Producers: Joe Varley and Akash Lockmun

A Brown Bred production for BBC Radio 4

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts.
0:07.0	Shall we get cracking?
0:08.7	You've got a BBC podcast coming up.
0:10.8	These were immensely popular.
0:13.0	But if you also like looking back,
0:14.7	then the BBC has loads of history podcasts to offer.
0:17.6	Proof that being a historian is a very exciting job.
0:19.7	Covering everything.
0:20.7	From epic events.
0:21.7	It was the year 1666.
0:23.8	Two personal stories.
0:25.0	It was an anxiety that people felt even in the ancient world.
0:27.9	So in future, for more history podcasts,
0:30.4	free people making a free choice about what they wanted.
0:34.3	Search History on BBC Sounds.
0:49.4	Music They wanted. Search History on BBC Sounds. Hello, I'm Phil Wang and welcome to Unspeakable.
0:52.4	This is the show about inventing brand new words created by three amazing guests.
0:58.0	The English language is full of wonderful sayings, including many rare ones, phrases like,
1:04.1	I love you, son, and I respect your decision to become a comedian.
1:08.9	A recent survey shows that the UK's favourite words include serendipity, Aurora and Epiphany,
1:16.7	who I thought were the girls from Maiden Chelsea.
1:22.2	Now, we'll be meeting our panel very shortly, but first let's welcome my wonderful co-host.
	...

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