As internet expert, Laci Green tells us, there are about 7000 languages spoken around the world. While they differ in many ways and are often totally unintelligible, Dutch scientists have recently claimed that they all share one word – which we know as Huh – an interjection that means ‘what do you mean?/ what’s that?’. But if you listen to the audio, you’ll hear a few examples taken from around the world. They might mean the same thing (well, we need evidence from all 7,000 languages to be sure), but they sound different, so are they really one word? We leave that up to you to think about.

Laci also points to examples of words that have spread from English around the world (again we can’t be sure how many people actually know them or use them): OK is one. She says it’s neutral, but there’s a lot of evidence to suggest otherwise: if you play with the intonation when you say it, you completely change the underlying message. Try it and see. The other word is Coca-Cola…. Hmm, that’s a reflection of the power of American advertising around the world.

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