Home Hidden in plain sound: overlooked repetition in Just a Minute
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Hidden in plain sound: overlooked repetition in Just a Minute

  • Alison Wray EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: November 11, 2023
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill

Abstract

In the BBC Radio Four panel game Just a Minute (JaM), players must speak fluently for one minute without hesitation, deviation, or repetition. Other players challenge them and take over the remainder of the minute if successful. What impact do the JaM rules have on players’ spoken output? Study 1 compares twelve unchallenged JaM minutes with twelve sample minutes from an interview by the same speaker, Paul Merton. Although lower, his repetition rate in JaM is still >34%. Study 2 asks why so many repeated words go unchallenged. Analysis of 97 JaM rounds (18,500 words) from 12 complete episodes reveals that word class, word frequency, and the distance between mentions all play a role. The parameters of challenges in the game are modeled and there is consideration of why and how repetition occurs in a language and how the wider priorities of JaM as entertainment shape the linguistic patterns.

Acknowledgements

I am very grateful to Professor Paul Meara and two anonymous referees for feedback on a previous version of this article. Thanks also to Paul Merton for giving me his insights into the experience of playing Just a Minute.

References

Anderson, Anne. 2006. Psycholinguistics: overview. In Keith Brown (ed.), Encyclopedia of language and linguistics (2nd ed., Vol. 10), 265–275. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/00788-4Search in Google Scholar

Anward, Jan. 2006. Word classes/parts of speech: overview. In Keith Brown (ed.), Encyclopedia of language and linguistics (2nd ed., Vol. 13), 628–632. Oxford: Elsevier.10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/00279-0Search in Google Scholar

Blumstein, Sheila E. 2007. Word recognition in aphasia. In M. Gareth Gaskell (ed.), Oxford handbook of psycholinguistics, 141–155. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198568971.013.0009Search in Google Scholar

Buerki, Andreas. (2020). (How) is formulaic language universal? Insights from Korean, German and English. In Elisabeth Piirainen, Natalia Filatkina, Sören Stumpf & Christian Pfeiffer (eds.), Formulaic language and new data:theoretical and methodological implications, 103–134. Berlin: De Gruyter.10.1515/9783110669824-005Search in Google Scholar

Christiansen, Thomas. 2008. Trends in the use of slang in the panel show Just a Minute in the period 1967-2006. In Susan Kermas & Maurizio Gotti (eds.), Socially-conditioned language change: diachronic and synchronic insights, 445–469. Lecce: Edizione del Grifo.Search in Google Scholar

Christiansen, Thomas. 2011. Cohesion: a discourse perspective. Bern: Peter Lang.10.3726/978-3-0351-0234-5Search in Google Scholar

Gayathri, S. 2016. Just a Minute (or JaM): a joyous communication enhancement game. International Journal of Communication and Media Studies, 6(1). 13–16.Search in Google Scholar

Giulianelli, Mari, Arabella Sinclair & Raquel Fernández. 2022. Construction repetition reduces information rate in dialogue. Paper presented at the 2nd Conference of the Asia-Pacific chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics/12th International Joint Conference on Natural Language Processing, https://arxiv.org/abs/2210.08321.Search in Google Scholar

Jaelani, Alan & Imanda R. Utami. 2020. The implementation of Just a Minute (JaM) technique to scaffold students’ speaking fluency: a case study. English Journal 14(1). 1–15.10.32832/english.v14i1.3784Search in Google Scholar

Kumar, Sunita. V. 2017. Just a Minute sessions: a gift of the gab. ITIHAS Journal of Indian Management, 7(1). 44-46.Search in Google Scholar

Leech, Geoffrey, Paul Rayson & Andrew Wilson. 2001. Word frequencies in written and spoken English. London: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar

McArthur, Tom (ed.) 1998. Concise Oxford companion to the English language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Parsons, Nicholas. 2010. My life in comedy. Edinburgh & London: Mainstream Publishing.Search in Google Scholar

Parsons, Nicholas. 2014. Just a Minute. Edinburgh: Canongate Books.Search in Google Scholar

Pertiwi, Rinindi & Zul Amri. 2017. Using Just a Minute game to improve students’ speaking ability in senior high school. Journal of English Language Teaching 6(1 E). 1–7. http://ejournal.unp.ac.id/index.php/jelt/article/view/9664.Search in Google Scholar

Pulvermüller, Friedemann. 2007. Word processing in the brain as revealed by neurophysiological imaging. In M. Gareth Gaskell (ed.), Oxford handbook of psycholinguistics, 119–139. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198568971.013.0008Search in Google Scholar

Rao, Parupalli S. 2018. The importance of JAM sessions in English classrooms. Research Journal of English Language and Literature 6(4). 338–346.Search in Google Scholar

Rao, Parupalli S. 2019. The significance of Just a Minute (JAM) sessions in developing speaking skills in English language learning (ELL) environment. Research Journal of English 4(4). 237–248.Search in Google Scholar

Sachs, Jacqueline S. 1967. Recognition memory for syntactic and semantic aspects of connected discourse. Perception and Psychophysics 2. 437–442.10.3758/BF03208784Search in Google Scholar

Shaaban, Sumer S. A. 2020. The effect of Just a Minute on enhancing the use of grammar in oral contexts among Palestinian tenth graders and their attitudes towards it. Journal of Al-Azhar University – Gaza (Humanities), 22(1, 4), https://shorturl.at/amDM8Search in Google Scholar

Taylor, John. R. 2012. The mental corpus. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Vigliocco, Gabriella & David P. Vinson. 2007. Semantic representation. In M. Gareth Gaskell (ed.), Oxford handbook of psycholinguistics, 195–215. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198568971.013.0012Search in Google Scholar

Williams, K. 1985. Just Williams. London: J. M. Dent.Search in Google Scholar

Wray, Alison. 2002. Formulaic language and the lexicon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511519772Search in Google Scholar

Wray, Alison. 2015. Why are we so sure we know what a word is? In John Taylor (ed.), Oxford handbook of the word, 725–750. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199641604.013.032Search in Google Scholar

Wray, Alison. 2017. Formulaic sequences as a regulatory mechanism for cognitive perturbations during the achievement of social goals. Topics in Cognitive Science 9(3). 569–587.10.1111/tops.12257Search in Google Scholar

Wray, Alison. 2019. Concluding question: Why don’t second language learners more proactively target formulaic sequences? In Anna Siyanova-Chanturia & Ana Pellicer-Sanchez (eds.), Understanding formulaic language: a second language acquisition perspective, 248–269. New York & London: Routledge.10.4324/9781315206615-14Search in Google Scholar

Published Online: 2023-11-11
Published in Print: 2023-11-27

© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Downloaded on 19.9.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/phras-2023-0004/html
Scroll to top button