Boom, crash, and beep. These words are onomatopoeic; they sound kind of like the thing they describe. Onomatopoeia has contributed to our vocabulary in some unexpected ways, and may have even helped get language started in the first place. But does it work in all languages? And why doesn't the word 'onomatopeia' sound like the thing? Linguist Daniel Midgley makes a splash on this episode of Talk the Talk.
