What is "just a minute"

interj. (context idiomatic English) stop; wait. Used to indicate that the speaker wishes the previous speaker or the proceedings to stop so that he or she can comment on what has been said or has happened so far. n. 1 (context literally English) Only one minute; a passage of time 60 seconds in duration. 2 (context idiomatic English) A short period of time, typically anywhere from several seconds to several minutes or more.

Just a Minute is a BBC Radio 4 radio comedy and television panel game chaired by Nicholas Parsons. Its first transmission on Radio 4 was on 22 December 1967, three months after the station's launch. The Radio 4 programme won a Gold Sony Radio Academy Award in 2003.

The object of the game is for panellists to talk for sixty seconds on a given subject, "without hesitation, repetition or deviation". The comedy comes from attempts to keep within these rules and the banter among the participants. In 2011 comedy writer David Quantick ascribed Just a Minute's success to its "insanely basic" format, stating, "It's so blank that it can be filled by people as diverse as Paul Merton and Graham Norton, who don't have to adapt their style of humour to the show at all."

Throughout its four-plus-decade history, the show has, in addition to its popularity in the UK, developed an international following through its broadcast on the BBC World Service and, more recently, on the internet.