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Those Extraordinary Things We Say

Jennifer Cowling


Regions:
Oxfordshire, Berkshire
Notice Period:
Short (maybe less than one month's notice)
Type:
Professional
Fee:
Paid: £65 fee + 45p per mile to and from Wantage
Category:
Humanities
Updated:
20th February 2026
Tagged:

Are you the kind of person (as I am) who happily uses phrases such as a turn up for the book, cupboard love, being taken to the cleaners, sod’s law, having a whale of a time or tickled pink in your everyday conversation oblivious to the fact that many of your listeners have no idea what you’re talking about?? Why is our language so strange and difficult to analyse at times? What are its origins? A light-hearted look at English figures of speech and how we use them.

Views: 4 | Enquiries: 0

About Jennifer Cowling

I've been working as a freelance speaker for eight years. My audience is mainly WI, U3A and other clubs and societies for retired or semi-retired people, numbers ranging from 15-20 to 120-150. I have a good clear voice and have been invited back to many groups over the years. My Talks Programme (available on request) is varied. My (45 mins-1 hour) talks are entertaining as well as informative and I really enjoy giving them. I have kept my pricing at a very reasonable level.

I have always had positive verbal feedback. Here is a selection of additional emailed comments:

"Thank you so much for a fascinating talk last night.  All these expressions we use without even thinking about them.  We just absorb them without really ever being told what they mean.  Just how you manage to get all your information must take a lot of time and effort."

"Just a quick email to thank you so very much for your fabulous talk yesterday evening.  As our president, Kim, mentioned, it was fascinating to discover the history behind some of the phrases that we all use every day without ever questioning where they have originated from"

"Every one so liked your talk last night. Several members came to me afterwards to ask me to tell you how much they enjoyed the evening"

"We really enjoyed your talk on Wednesday - as I'm sure you realised from people's comments and reactions. It was both interesting and entertaining"


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