BBC can't get its tongue round the Web

The BBC has denied it has issued an edict to its broadcasters on how to read aloud Web addresses. For some months now newscasters and programme presenters have fallen into the annoying habit of misreading domains. The result, is that the syntax and poetic balance of a Web domain is completely thrown out of alignment. It grates on the ear just as nastily as a flat note in the middle of a Gregorian chant. Instead of "the register, dot co, dot uk" BBC broadcasters would say, "the register dot, co dot, uk". But it's not "the register dot, co dot, uk" in just the same way its isn't "ebay dot, com" or "amazon dot, com". Even the geezer that presents Radio 4's Poetry Please on Sunday afternoons gets it wrong. And if he can't say it properly, then what's the world coming to…? When asked whether a universal style for reading out domains has been introduced, a spokesman for the BBC said: "Not as far as I am aware." Which is odd, since so many broadcasters tend indulge in this scabrous practice. The BBC spokesman promised to look into the matter. ®