Broadcast media

I have appeared on various media broadcasts to discuss my own research as well as a range of language topics. I have been interviewed on BBC News and Sky News and my work has been discussed on the Jeremy Vine Show on Channel 5. I have also been interviewed for many international, national and regional radio stations including the following:

• BBC World Service
• Talk Radio Europe
• BBC Radio 4
• BBC Radio 5 Live
• Sky Radio
• Classic FM
• Today FM
• Voice of Russia
• Newstalk
• BBC Radio Wales
• 2SER (Australia)
• Radio New Zealand
• BBC Radio Bristol
• BBC Radio Coventry and Warwickshire
• BBC Radio Devon
• BBC Radio Lancashire
• BBC Radio London
• BBC Radio Merseyside
• BBC Radio Suffolk
• BBC Radio Three Counties

Print & digital media

Here are a few recent press articles about my research:

The study, by Dr Robbie Love at Aston University, found there was a 27% drop in swearing in Britain over the 20-year period, down from 1,822 to 1,320 swearwords per million.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/aug/20/bloody-loses-its-place-atop-swearing-lexicon-as-british-use-of-expletives-falls

Robbie Love, a lecturer in English Language at Aston University, has researched social attitudes to swearing, and found that over a 20-year period, “bugger” has fallen from the fifth most-common swear word to the ninth, while “bastard” dropped from seventh to 10th. The climbers included “shit”, from third to second; “arse”, from eighth to sixth; and “dick”, from 10th to seventh.

https://inews.co.uk/culture/books/f-word-swearing-still-a-taboo-debate-1483825

• A bloody shame: Britons find a new favourite swearword (The Guardian)
• Blow the what doors off? Swearing on the slide (The Times)
• ‘Bloody’ no longer the most commonly used British swear word (The Telegraph)
• Brits have washed their mouths out! (Daily Mail)
• ‘Bloody’ no longer the UK’s most popular swear word, study suggests (Independent)
• ‘Bloody not!’ Britain’s most popular swear word laid bare by linguist – ‘Big rise in use’ (Express)
• Britain’s favourite swear word revealed (The Week)
• SWEAR BY IT Brits ditch ‘bloody’ as favourite swear word as most popular curse revealed – despite swearing dropping 27% in 20 years (The Sun)

I have also been quoted about my research by the BBC News, The Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, iNews, The Daily Mail (twice), SchoolsWeek, Business Ghana, Digit, Walta, the Plymouth Herald and Brinkwire, among other print & digital media.

“A lot of new tech is abstract and difficult to understand, which makes it ripe for metaphor,” Dr Robbie Love, a linguistics fellow at the University of Leeds, who conducted the study, told BBC News.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-49197595

Popular writing

I am a featured author for Cambridge University Press’ World of Better Learning blog. In addition, I have written blogs and articles for publications including ESRC’s blog, ESRC’s Britain In… magazine, English & Media Centre’s Emagazine, The Conversation, ESRC’s Society Now magazine and Macmillan Dictionary. See examples of my writing here.

I realise that what we have gathered is not just a linguistic resource but a unique and permanent record of humanity.

https://blog.esrc.ac.uk/2017/09/19/not-just-a-linguistic-resource-but-a-unique-record-of-humanity/

Academic interviews

In 2023 I was interviewed on Society Matters podcast about my research into swearing:

In 2021 I was interviewed on Lexis Podcast about my research into swearing:

In 2018 I was interviewed for a podcast by the University of Leeds’ Centre for Language Education Research (CLER). I discussed my work on the Spoken BNC2014 project. Listen here:

In 2013 I was interviewed by Lancaster University where I discussed my experience of studying at the Department of Linguistics and English Language. Watch here: