Original version

BBC World Service Online

More or Less

Discussion & Talk

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics in the news and in life

Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics in the news and in life.

More or Less: Shakespeare v Rappers

Factual

Shakespeare v Rappers

12/09/2014

BBC World Service - More or Less, Shakespeare v Rappers

Who has the biggest vocabulary - the Bard or today’s rap stars?

Who has the biggest vocabulary - the Bard or today’s rap stars? Tim Harford takes a look at the numbers with James Fletcher.

It is a 'fact' beloved of English teachers around the world that Shakespeare, the greatest playwright writing in English, also had the greatest vocabulary. But research published earlier this year suggests English teachers might have to look elsewhere to establish the superiority of the Bard - apparently his vocabulary lags behind the best and most famous rappers of the last decades. Is this comparison fair, and if so, does it diminish Shakespeare's lustre?

(Photo: Run DMC. Credit: Getty Images)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

More or Less

Shakespeare v Rappers

Genres

Brand

BBC World Service Online

About BBC World Service