Phrases/words that set your teeth on edge.

[P. G. Tipps]

At least neither this nor your own childhood experience involved mass audience hysteria, obsessive competition, the flaunting of celebrity "culture" and admonitions to "keep dancing" ...

Oh, you have no idea, ahinton ...

[ahinton]

Oh, you have no idea, ahinton ...

Evidently I don't, but if your early days were really sullied by having to appear before panels of judges, being screamed at by audiences, being coerced into pretending to be a "celeb" and the rest, I - and, I imagine, many others here - could feel sympathy for you; somehow, however, this seems to be an unlikely scenario, especially in Scotland at the time...

[jean]

Brava! Bravi! (Brave! ?).

I've heard the last after a performance by an all-female group in the church of the Pietà in Venice.

[jean]

'Every little helps' is a well-formed sentence, subject plus predicate...

And was around long before Tesco appropriated it!

[gurnemanz]

Brava! Bravi! (Brave! ?).

I remember Fiat brought out the Bravo and the Brava as slightly different versions of the same car.

[Flosshilde]

one in blue & one in pink?

[Lat-Literal]

Tend to watch about 15% of it and am not in principle against it. First question. Which prime time Saturday night programme on BBC 1 has been better? Most from memory have involved Noel Edmonds. Second question. Does hysteria and overt competition matter in its context when that context is trivial and it is rampant in all serious areas of life? Question three - on which other prime time Saturday night programme on BBC 1 has Radio3 ever been mentioned, let alone featuring film footage of a Radio 3 studio? The answer there is none. But to be relevant, Anton du Beke. He is probably going to win it with Katie Derham. Started as Antal Xavier Beke, became Anthony Paul Beke and ultimately opted for affectation. "Du" is good and "St John" might have been equally cool but what is the range of possibilities if one wants to go down that road? "Le" perhaps? "Ap"?

[Lat-Literal]

Tend to watch about 15% of it and am not in principle against it. First question. Which prime time Saturday night programme on BBC 1 has been better? Handy hint - most, from memory, have involved Noel Edmonds. Second question. Does hysteria and overt competition matter in the "Strictly" context when that context is trivial and such things are rampant in all serious areas of life? Third question. On which other prime time Saturday night programme on BBC 1 has Radio 3 ever been mentioned, let alone has there been film footage of a Radio 3 studio? The answer is none. But to be relevant, Anton du Beke. He is probably going to win it with Katie Derham. Started as Antal Xavier Beke, became Anthony Paul Beke and ultimately opted for affectation. "Du" is good and "St John" might have been equally cool but what is the range of possibilities if one wants to go down that road? "Le" perhaps? "Ap"? Of course, if you are initially Christened Marnie Mercedes Darcey Pemberton Crittle and have the talents to match such considerations are not necessary.

[ahinton]

Tend to watch about 15% of it and am not in principle against it. First question. Which prime time Saturday night programme on BBC 1 has been better? Handy hint - most, from memory, have involved Noel Edmonds. Second question. Does hysteria and overt competition matter in the "Strictly" context when that context is trivial and such things are rampant in all serious areas of life? Third question. On which other prime time Saturday night programme on BBC 1 has Radio 3 ever been mentioned, let alone has there been film footage of a Radio 3 studio? The answer is none. But to be relevant, Anton du Beke. He is probably going to win it with Katie Derham. Started as Antal Xavier Beke, became Anthony Paul Beke and ultimately opted for affectation. "Du" is good and "St John" might have been equally cool but what is the range of possibilities if one wants to go down that road? "Le" perhaps? "Ap"? Of course, if you are initially Christened Marnie Mercedes Darcey Pemberton Crittle and have the talent to match such considerations are not necessary.

Some duplication here, it would seem.

Anyway, I'm not "against" it in principle either, to the extent that I don't have or want to watch it; as I mentioned - everal times - my issue (in the context of this threa, anyway) - is ite title. That said, to your first question I'd reply "which prime time Saturday night programme on BBC1 has been any good at all"? "to your second I would reply "none that I can think of", so effectively I agree with you, except that, in my view, it does the programme no favours whatsoever - and it's a programme that shares the current competitive obsession with Great British Bakeoff/Menu, Masterchef and others that are not especially noisy (other than by means of their at times intrusive music) and X Factor, SCD and others whose noise emanates from such hysteria. To your last, I don't quite see how mere incidental mention of Radio 3 on it elevates it in any way (or raises Radio 3's profile or listener statistics) and I rather doubt that more than a smattering of its audience either in the studio or on TV know or care much about the Proms which only go on for less than two months of each year and of which KD is only one of its presenters in any case. And no, I haven't a clue who might "win" this year's SCD ard care even less.

[P. G. Tipps]

Anyway, I'm not "against" it in principle ...

I am 'against' it in both principle and practice.

Public service broadcasting should be about educating viewers and listeners with high quality news-reporting, documentaries, drama etc.,not drenching them in tacky, tasteless garbage.

The Americans and the commercial channels do the tacky, tasteless garbage stuff much better, anyway.

Poor Lord Reith must be thoroughly fed-up now constantly turning in his grave.

[french frank]

I've heard the last after a performance by an all-female group in the church of the Pietà in Venice.

It doesn't grate in Italy because it's an Italian adjective and therefore agrees in number and gender. In English it's an exclamation, though - as is characteristic of English - it can be a noun ('The hired bravos who defend The tyrant's throne.') or a verb ('bravoed and applauded'). That might grate in Italian ears

[There are English examples of 'brava' in the OED but four of the five are either American or fictional and none refer to concert performances]

[Serial_Apologist]

[There are English examples of 'brava' in the OED but four of the five are either American or fictional and none refer to concert performances]

- What's the Costa Brava?

- Never heard of it mate. A couple of smackers?

[jean]

It doesn't grate in Italy because it's an Italian adjective and therefore agrees in number and gender. In English it's an exclamation, though...

There were always a lot of tourists at concerts in Venice, and they used to shout Bravo! as was their wont whatever the number and sex of the performers - at which the Italians would look pained and disapproving.

(But I did hear a Brava! after the final soprano aria of the WNO's I Puritani omly last week.)

[P. G. Tipps]

Apparently ... and the Lord knows I'm no foreign lingo expert ... 'bravo' in Spanish can refer to both male and female. It is also used in German and no doubt countless other tongues.

So the tourists in Venice are perfectly entitled to shout a word of approval in their own language whatever the snooty locals think. They (the snooty locals) should just be grateful for the much-needed monetary boost to the Italian economy.

As for an all-female group performing in a (presumably Catholic) Church, whatever next?

[jean]

Behind a grille of course, where Vivaldi himself would have put them: