Something Rhymes with Purple - Dogsbody

Episode Date: July 23, 2019

Catty. Batty. Dog tired. Sick as a pig. Why are the animals we use in our language often negative? Should we be reporting the English language to the RSPCA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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skip to the good bit using the card member entrance. Let's go seize the night. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Visit amex.ca slash yamex. Benefits vary by card. Other conditions apply. Hello, my name's Giles Brandreth and this is the podcast Something Rhymes With Purple. It's all about words and language. It's coming to you from the kitchen of my friend Susie Dent, who is my co-host on this podcast. Good morning, Susie, and thank you for having us here today.

Thank you so much for coming. We are in Oxford, where you've spent much of your life. You were at the University of Oxford? I was. I did go away in between then and now, in case I sound very sad. I lived in America for quite a long time, but yeah, I did go to university here. And I don't think we need to apologise for it. Sometimes people feel they've got to apologise for the university they've been to. There was a nice guy called Rory Stewart, who was, you know, one of the people who hoped he'd be prime minister, who when asked what his weakness

was, he said, you know, oh, it was going to Eaton and Oxford, as though these were bad things. I think what he meant was maybe my experience hasn't been as broad as it should be. Yeah, I'm not apologising for Oxford. No, no, you here but i don't have been away um but uh yes i do you know what i actually also went to eton but just for a term because my school didn't cater for the oxbridge exam at all so i had to go to a local school and that local school happened to be Eton. So it was quite an eye opener for me. There was 13 of us. We were told to dress attractively, but not provocatively. Can I say you've managed that all your life? Thank you. And yeah, can you imagine? I went from a convent to a boys school and I was utterly terrified.

And were the boys nice? Mixed I would say but then you get that in any school a lot of them weren't. To be honest I was so scared of the whole thing that I didn't and it was all entirely new to me on every single level. I'd not had this teaching I didn't have that background I was

total outsider and the teaching was extraordinary I don't think I would have got to Oxford without it, if I'm honest. But their confidence is what really amazed me. So any question that was asked by a beak, which was their name for a tutor, the boys would quite often slam their hands on the table because they wanted to answer it, and then often stand up to deliver the answer. And I was so impressed. I was just completely numbed into silence. And then I soon realised that actually some of what they were saying was BS, really.

BS meaning bollocks? Meaning bullshit. Oh, bullshit. I'm so sorry. But it was delivered with such aplomb that it was entirely credible. And if this is ringing any bells with anybody, you'll know what I mean. The delivery and the rhetoric and the coaching in that is quite extraordinary bs is the beginning and end of bollocks and a bullshit and of well it certainly includes in bullshit and a boris boris was he at school with you then as well as university because i know he was at oxford

with you was yeah i did i didn't i mean i knew him a bit at university but not particularly well you know you are now i now realize you have something in common with the Queen. Do I? Because the Queen was educated by Eton Beaks. The Queen didn't go to school. Really? I didn't know that. Who looked after Windsor Castle, but Windsor Castle is right by Eton. And she was taught constitutional history by one of the Beaks at Eton.

And he found it so nerve wracking teaching the future queen, who was only 12 or 13 years of age, that he hardly was able to speak. And he would sit there apparently chewing his knuckles and was so nervous. And one hand was chewing his knuckles and the other, he held a handkerchief and he sort of chewed on that while teaching the queen. It was the opposite for me. I was the one chewing the hanky. And in fact, I was so, so self-conscious and mortified by the fact that my stomach

would rumble quite loudly, which is unfortunately an unfortunate family trait. You might pick it up on the podcast that I used to stuff myself with minstrels. This is one of my big memories. Before any lesson, this is not particularly healthy approach. I would just take loads of minstrels, which are obviously... Minstrels is a chocolate.

..chocolate confection, in order to stop my stomach just raising the roof. I, unfortunately, was at Oxford a generation before you. And amusingly, this week on Twitter, a contemporary of mine, a man called Philip Hodson, do you know he used to write... He was an agony art for people with sex problems. Oh, wow. Like Dr. Ruth? Like Dr. Ruth.

But I mean, whatever, you know, he solved it. And a very nice guy. And he was telling somebody, people were talking about how when Boris was at Oxford, people were saying, you know, 20 years from now, he'll be prime minister, 30 years from now. And he was saying that when he was at Oxford, people used to say that I was the most likely person to be Prime Minister. And, of course, that's what I thought at the time too. Well, you almost... No. Well, you went in that direction.

I went in that direction, but the people spoke, and in no uncertain terms. So they made their feelings very clear. My contemporaries included Edwina Currie, then Edwina Cohen, Anne Widdicombe, who I always describe as that curious cross between Margaret Rutherford and Danny DeVito. Anne Widdicombe, and she had a boyfriend at the time, a fellow called Colin. And they walked around together holding hands. They looked like a couple of Russian dolls. You know, you open up one and

they sort of, they were, but they were delightful. They were delightful people. One of my abiding memories of Anne Whitcomb, who occasionally came on Countdown, was the fact that, as you all know, sometimes rude words come up, or slightly risque words. And we had orgasmed for eight. Just checking it's eight. And I said, I'm not saying that. This is an afternoon two-time show.

She got very irate about the fact that I'd written it down on my pad. So I was left with the decision as to whether to offer it or not. And as it was by far and away our longest word, I'm afraid I did. Quite right too. So she wasn't best pleased. Perfectly legitimate. One of my memories. But interesting what you say about Boris,

because actually I think other people on Twitter would say he's the last of best pleased. Perfectly legitimate. One of my memories. But interesting what you say about Boris, because actually I think other people on Twitter would say he's the last of their contemporaries that they would ever have imagined to become prime minister. He was in the debating society. He was a good debater. But, you know, it's not all about delivery, is it? No, it's actually very much about ambition.

I think it's very much most people, in my experience, if they really know what they want, and they really, really want it, mostly they get it. Really? I'm going to try that. Yeah, you should try that. And I know that I didn't become prime minister because I didn't really, really want it. I mean, I was an MP and I was in the government. I was a government whip. I was law commissioner of the treasury. It was fascinating. It was in many ways, the most interesting thing I've ever done. But when I lost my seat, I wasn't hungry to go back. And a few months later when somebody phoned up from central office,

the central office saying, we've got a seat coming up. It's a safe one. Would you be interested? I thought, not sure that I would anymore. And once you feel that way, then you know it won't happen. But if you really want something, it's like us with this podcast. We really wanted to do a podcast about words and language and we've ended up doing it.

And people listen to it and it is lovely. And it's lovely being here because you've got a cat. And I love cats. That's a lovely segue. Well, because we can talk about animals. We are going to talk about animals. What is your cat called? Our cat is from Battersea, Cats and Dogs Home, which I will just always be grateful to.

I just think they're the most amazing institution for all of us and we should cherish it. And she was named, our cat was named by them. Essentially, she was the shyest in her litter and was a little bit bullied by her siblings. And they called her Bo Peep because she used to hide everywhere. So we call her Bo for short. I love the idea of a cat being called Bo Peep. Little Bo Peep. She's very shy.

Well, Bo for short, as I say, because Bo Peep would be slightly embarrassing. But she's really, really a little sort of tiny, very scared little thing. She is a little. She's a scaredy cat. I've seen her. She's a little scaredy cat. She's skittled past me. We love animals. What I want to ask you is why when we use animals in our language, is it always negative? If you say somebody are catty, okay,

you say somebody they're batty, you say somebody, you know, your dog tired, sick as a pig, blind as a bat, timid as a mouse, all these things are negative. Sick as a parrot. Sick as a parrot. Should we be reporting the English language to the RSPCA? How has this come about? It's really interesting you should say that. Well, I think it's partly because historically animals weren't treated in the same way as they may be today. So this is, you know, abattoirs in the food industry aside, we adore our cats and dogs for the most part don't we um and we are appalled um as english-speaking nations when they're mistreated but in the past they really were so if you have a hang dog expression for example that looks back to when dogs were literally tried in courts for any misdemeanor so if a dog pinched some sausages from a butcher's, say, I'm probably talking about more heinous crimes than this,

but it's quite possible that it would be tried in court and sentenced to death. Excuse me, a dog would be pulled into the court of law and a magistrate, I imagine if it's just sausages, or a judge if it was something more serious, if it attacked a human being, the animal itself would be put on trial. Yes. Not the owner of the animal. Not the owner. Now, in modern law, it would be the owner of the animal. Quite right. They're not looking after you properly. Yes. But in those days, they could try. And so a hanged dog is

because it was sentenced. The judge put on the black cap, as it were, and I sentenced this dog to be hung. Was it hanged? H it hanged hanged you can explain that to me in a moment uh to be hanged by the neck until he she is dead and they will take it away and string up the dog it's awful it's awful this is fact it's not no it's not it's absolute fact so it's a dog's life um is another one dog's dinner you know you know, quite negative, as you say, idioms associated with dogs. Before you go on to the other ones, can I just quickly... In the doghouse, my view, that's Peter Pan. Yes. I want to come back now, but just to clear this up, because otherwise we'll get so many letters about it. And if you do have a letter,

it's purple at somethingelse.com, where you write to us, P-U-p-l-e at something without a g else all one word dot com hung and hanged i know that when somebody is hanged by the neck because they're going to be executed it is hanged i know when something is well hung it's different uh what is the difference between hung and hanged and why can't't you say he was hung when somebody was executed? I think it's purely a distinction from the past. It is actually very useful to us because it does offer, as I say, it offers that sort of differentiation. So it's very clear what's been used.

But I'm correct. It is hanged when you execute it. It is hanged. And I wouldn't be remotely surprised if that does change over time. I think I've even used, I mean, I say even I, but you know, I supposed to know what I'm doing. I have used them interchangeably wrongly on occasion when I haven't been thinking about it. But yes, it's very, very specific now. In the doghouse, that means that you're saying that's another phrase introduced by J.M. Barry. That was J.M. Barry. That was Peter Pan. Because if you remember, the poor dog called...

Nana. Nana. Was he called Nana? No, something like that. Nana. Nana. I love this play. Peter Pan.

I spent my whole life living really in Peter Pan. I never wanted to leave Peter Pan. You look like Peter Pan, obviously. Thank you. Thank you. I'd like to play Captain Hook, interesting enough. So the doghouse, what happens in this is Mr. Darling is the husband. You look like Peter Pan, obviously. Thank you. Thank you. I'd like to play Captain Hook, interesting enough. So the doghouse, what happens in this is Mr. Darling is the husband,

the father of the lost boys who go off to Neverland with Peter Pan. And because the boys have disappeared and he was unkind to the dog, who was their nanny, Nana. Nana? Nana? One of the two. One of the two. He is put into her doghouse and lives outside. So the expression being put in the doghouse comes from Peter Pan.

Well, it's interesting. I mean, I think a lot of etymologists will confidently state that's where it comes from. It's not used in the play, but there's obviously that association there. But also could it also be that the idea came to the playwright because the notion of actually putting somebody out of the house, you might as well go and sleep in the doghouse. You're just out in the cold, exactly.

A dog's life, sick as a dog, a dog's body, raining cats and dogs. All these are negative connotations because we didn't take our pets seriously. They were working animals. Yes, there are exceptions to that. For example, you were very foxy. That's a nice one, isn't it? If you're foxy uh that's a nice one isn't it if you're foxy that's good sir if you're a vulpine though less so wolf-like i wouldn't necessarily call you oh no you wouldn't and i wouldn't necessarily call

you foxy easily oh thanks oh well do you want to be foxy is that a compliment well foxy's good what about things like the bee's knees oh the, the bee's knees. Well, this goes back to an era where, you know, it was post-war exuberance, really, that was then expressed through language. So it was a kind of celebratory time when war was out of the way, rationing had finished, and people just wanted to just throw language around and be particularly playful. So this is kind of 1940s. Yeah, so you have the bee's knees. I mean, some of them are quite extraordinary.

You have the kipper's knickers, the elephant's adenoids, which I quite like. Not the dog's bollocks. That came later. We talked about that, haven't we? Because that was printed slang for the colon dash. But I think because it followed that formula of the bee's knees, the cat's whiskers etc colon dash it looks like it looks like the dog's bollocks that's why it's called the dog's bollocks the bee's knees you're telling me is a phrase that came in in the 1940s yeah and it expressed exuberance yes he's the bee's knees it's the

bee's knees it's the acme of excellence isn't it but i think people just loved playing around with language at this time um you know to sort of express something that is the highest quality. And what were the other ones? Elephant's adenoids. I've never heard that. Elephant's adenoids. No, no, no. So a lot of these faded, sadly. And there was a bee's knee in the 18th century, meaning something really which makes much makes much more sense oh that's charming but here it says actually earlier than 1940s um early 20th century america nonsense expression that denoted something it didn't have any meaningful expression but then later on a few decades later um 1920s 1930s you have the snake's hips. Oh, I love that.

The monkey's eyebrows. You're the snake's hips. The cat's pyjamas. Oh, cat's pyjamas. That's stark, isn't it? Yeah. Oh, you're the cat's pyjamas. I suppose it's flapper language, really.

It's flapper and you can see how it would fit with the sort of flapper gaiety, can't you? He's the bee's knees. Oh, you're the cat's pyjamas. Yeah, you can see that. So I love all of those. I think dog's bollocks is possibly one of my favourite, but as I say, I don't like it at all.

Do not. No, I don't like visualising them. I don't like the phrase. I don't, funnily enough, I don't like the word bollocks. Do not, I love the word bollocks. I don't like the word bollocks. I have used it, I'm afraid, on occasion, but I don't. What's your swear word of choice?

Not, we've already talked about swearing, but you know, it's a big subject. What's my swear word of choice? I try to avoid swear words. I've become much worse. I've already talked about swearing, but, you know, it's a big subject. What's my swear word of choice? I try to avoid swear words. I've become much worse. I've been taking part in a television series called Celebrity Gogglebox. Yes. And you've been watching Naked Attraction, if I remember.

I think we need a whole episode to talk about naked attraction and possibly both of us in our kimonos. But that's for another day. You and Sheila. I'm doing it with the wonderful Sheila Hancock. And Hancock is slang for something. I'm not quite sure what. Johnson, I discovered, is slang for something.

I didn't realise that. Yes. And he was wearing, Boris Johnson was wearing a very long tie on an interview the other day. And Sheila Hancock said, oh, look, he's got a Johnson over his Johnson. It's quite appropriate, really, isn't't it when you think about it anyway yes and that's neither here nor there uh wild goose chase where does that come from oh well goose chase is nice um it refers to the formation that uh geese tend to fly in which um was also the

formation used by riders who sometimes would set off as a sporting pursuit, as a sort of hunt. But they would be, I can't actually remember what the target of their chase would be. It was a little bit like a hunting pursuit. So they were positioning themselves like wild geese. Yes. So if you see wild geese, as you do sometimes, where I live in London, I went near the wetland centre in West London, and you actually see formations of geese flying on Canada geese. They follow the leader, don't they?

So it's a slightly V-shape. So it is a V-shape. So I think it was a horse race in which everyone followed the leader, essentially. Ah, because the way it works out now, when you describe a wild goose chase, I thought you were chasing a wild goose, and it was something you were never likely to catch.

You're going off on a wild goose chase, you will never catch it. But in fact, what it's about is the formation of the geese in pursuit. And I think the pursuit thing is key because the idea was then transferred to people who were just following their own impulses, following their own inclinations and disregarding anybody else's. I think that was the idea. It's just, right, I'm going this way. So quite a long, complicated history back to the 17th century, this one. Wild geese. What's the plural of wild goose chase?

It's not wild geese chase, is it? Wild goose chases. Wild goose chases. While we're on that, just before we have our break, because we must have a break, tell me about this. You're using your computer there and you haven't got a proper mouse. You're using your finger on the thing. I am. I like mice, though but yeah mouses what is it why a it's called a mouse because the original ones looked like a sugar mouse in a way that's why it's called a mouse correct yes and

it's got a tail it used to be attached physically to the machine so that's why it was called a mouse why then is the plural not mice well i think it's just again to preserve that distinction so you know i mean obviously no one's going to have a real mouse hopefully on their on their desk but i think it's just a handy distinction between the two separate very separate entities well they were life is very confusing i want to discover about the white elephant but i want to have an ad break first white elephants yes oh okay stay tuned bumble knows it's hard to start conversations hey no too basic hi there still no what about hello handsome who knew you could give yourself the ick that's why bumble is changing how you start conversations

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and we invite you to take your sonic knowledge to the next level by listening to our show, Crunchyroll Presents The Anime Effect. Learn about how Yeji's latest album was actually born from her own manga. I started off with not even the music. I started off by writing a fantastical story. Or how 24K Golden gets inspired by his favorite opening themes.

There are certain songs that I'm like, whoa, the melodies in this are really amazing. No idea what bro's saying at all, but I'm jacking these melodies. And you know, I hear Megan Thee Stallion is also a big anime fan. So Megan, do you want to trade AOT hot takes? We're here. Listen every Friday, wherever you get your podcast, and watch full episodes on Crunchyroll or on the Crunchyroll YouTube channel. I'm Giles Brandreth.

This is Susie Dent. We are Something Rhymes with Purple. We're talking about animals, and I want to know the origin of the expression white elephant. Well, a white elephant is essentially something that is a burden rather than a boon, isn't it? Something that actually you're saddled with and that is not as good as it seems. And this goes back, it's a wonderful story. It goes back to the story, true or not, we're not completely sure, but that the kings of Siam would give a white elephant to any courtiers that they disliked or found annoying because they knew that white elephants were considered to be

particularly sacred. So they couldn't be used as working animals. They were of no use to the courtier whatsoever, but the upkeep was incredibly expensive. So you lumbered somebody with genuinely a white elephant. Exactly. It wasn't a statue of it, it was an actual animal to keep. Yeah, difficult to dispose of. But of course, because it was given to them by the king, they couldn't possibly give it away either. Rather like when I was a child, Edward Heath, who was prime minister, was given pandas by the government of China. And they had to come back to this country.

Well, the idea was a kind gift. But then the government had to spend thousands, probably millions in all, feeding these pandas that wouldn't breed. Right. What about the elephant in the room? The elephant in the room is interesting. A long, long list of conjectures about that one. It's fairly recent, as we know. This is a subject that everyone knows exists,

or a problem that everyone knows exists, but no one dares speak of. And its ultimate origin is pretty unknown. We don't really know where it comes from. It's sort of mentioned in various kind of business theses, et cetera. You look at me like this, do you know where it comes from? No, I don't. But I'm thinking if anybody does, what you do is you communicate with us, purple at something else,

that's something without the G else or one word.com, purple at something else. And if you've got the answer, we will then share it. People have got some questions. Can I chip in with some questions before we do any more animal chit chat? Have we got time for that? It's quite exciting being here in your home because I think you've done some baking, which is lovely. Some cookies. I smell something quite nice. Or maybe that's the cat. I don't know. So many questions. And this one, I don't think we'll have the answer to this. I haven't. This is from Sandy Brown. Sandy Brown asks, can you tell me whether there is a specific name for a letter within a word that is pronounced twice? Examples that Sandy gives, the second H in threshold, threshold. The second E in wherever, wherever. It's one word, but you know, it's where and ever,

but they come together. The second H in Churchill. Churchill, you pronounce it, but actually it's only one H in threshold. There's only one H at the beginning of the hold part, but you say thresh and then hold. Is there a word for that, for that second letter? Well, now I can only think of digraphs, really, but I'm not a digraph. A digraph, that sounds like something you take

when you've got bowel problems. A digraph. Yes, actually, I'm going to need you take when you've got bowel problems. A diagraph. Yes, actually. You go to the chemist. You're actually wanting to buy Viagra, but you lose your nerve. The last minute you say, I'll have a packet of diagraph. Thank you. D-I-A-G-R-A-P-H.

Yeah, but I don't think this is the right one for this. This actually. Two instances. So there's a kind of double letters, two instances of the same character. Ah. Oh, except they're not two. It's the pronunciation. There are not two instances.

It's one instance of the same character, but it's used twice. Yeah, threshold. I guess it's just what's happened there is that the hyphen has disappeared, as they weren't to do these days. So hyphens are definitely on their way out, like adverbs. Ah. And they're coming together. So the word is.

But in order to preserve the original... It's called the absent hyphen. The absent hyphen, should we call it that? I think we should call it the absent hyphen. So, Sandy Brown, the answer to your question, can you tell me whether there's a specific name for a letter within a word that is pronounced twice? Yes, it's known as the absent hyphen.

Do you know what? Sometimes my knowledge of linguistic nomenclature is woefully lacking. So if there are any really hardcore linguists out there who want to correct me, please feel free to do so. I love the way she said nomenclature. Nomenclature. You've got to get that right, otherwise you could well be

in trouble with the political correctness police. We've had an email from Ryan Tempest. Ryan Tempest, what a great name. Ryan Tempest. Tonight on the Ryan Tempest Hour, Ryan's guests include Foxy Susie Dent and me. Go on, what's the question? A lot of people I know say Pacific instead of specific.

Why, it's so annoying. Pacificly. Is this a simple slip of the tongue or has Pacific ever had the same meaning as Pacific in local dialect or slang? Pacific versus specific. Yes. It's one of those what we call egg? Well, no. Pacific versus specific. Yes. It's one of those, what we call egg corns, really. Mispronunciation.

I'm not sure if it's a pure egg corn. Slips of the ear, really, that we believe to be right. And it really gets on people's nerves, specifically. Pacific actually goes back to pacify. So the Pacific Ocean was a sort of peaceful peaceful calm uh ocean that was the idea there um whereas pacific obviously is very different and unfortunately if we look on ox's databases you will see pacifically making inroads but somehow i doubt it's ever going to replace the original i don't think it's going to be like mischievous, eventually overtaking mischievous. Am I a bad person? Because I find this sort of thing so irritating.

Yes, I know. You're not alone. I mean, there was an advertisement the other day in the newspaper where an apostrophe was presented incorrectly as an opening inverted comma. Are you with me? So it was an apostrophe, but the wrong way round. The wrong way round. In an advertisement for a large national newspaper. And I thought this is so annoying. And my wife said to me, get a life, Giles.

It really doesn't matter. And so if somebody says specifically instead of specifically, does it actually matter? Well, obviously, as you know, I wrote a book called Have You Eaten Grandma? Still in print, I'm pleased to say, all about this. And it became a bestseller because obviously to a lot of people it does matter. But am I wrong? Am I getting my knickers in a twist about nothing?

No, I don't think you are because inevitably it's going to impact upon your message, isn't it? Notice I said impact upon rather than impact your message. Oh, well done. That's a whole different kettle of fish. But, I mean, as you know, I'm not a linguistic pedant at all, but I would also get annoyed by that because immediately your mind trips up on it and so the rest of the sentence is slightly lost.

As for things like nuclear versus nuclear, which people get very annoyed about as opposed to nuclear yeah as in the simpsons but that's not that doesn't really worry me so much speaking of the simpsons it's almost time for the simpsons i love the simpsons so look we're gonna have to wind up our podcast and get in front of the box things to say still well we're gonna have to do we'll have to do some more. Before we go outside, I see it's raining cats and dogs. I'm looking out over Susie Dent's beautiful Oxfordshire garden. The flowers are blooming.

The cat is looking drenched. We kind of slid it back in. The cat is in. The cat is in. The cat is in. Raining cats and dogs. Yes. Well, again, where to start on this so many there's a very

common email that goes around uh entitled life in the 1500s i think which is just very funny for etymologists because it's full of wonderful stories that are completely wrong and the one about reigning cats and dogs is that um cats and dogs used to live on the thatched roofs in medieval times um of houses and would be washed down by the rain. Not true, because I mean, what cat and dog ever lives in a thatched roof? Certainly not a dog. We think it is a bit like, I mean, why do we say raining stairs? What do we say? Stair rods, don't we?

It's pretty much something that is kind of heavy thunder plumping from the sky. Stair rods, you can actually see stair rods running down in lines. You can. That's because it's like that. But cats and dogs? Yeah. Well, we think it's just a metaphor that had no literal application. But if you want a literal application, well, sort of mythological application, it's believed that cats and dogs were attendants upon witches

or the god of thunder, depending on the story that you pick. So that, in fact, if it was raining cats and dogs, it was answering the calls of, you know, ethereal others that were sort of demanding heavy weather. I mean, honestly, I can't begin to tell you how many theories are attached to that, but we think it was a simple metaphor right from the start. I love delving into your mind, Susie Dent.

It's all good, isn't it? I've decided we're going to keep fish and everything to do with the sea for another day. Okay. Because otherwise we would be here all night and I want to get to watch The Simpsons. Do you? Right. I'm a bit of a Simpsons. What's your favourite TV programme?

I love The Simpsons. Oh, I love things like Big Little Lies, massively into that at the moment. Have you watched that? No, I have no time. I'm just watching Naked Attraction back to back. Well, actually not back to back. It's all front to front, isn't it? They've been in touch with me about Celebrity Naked Attraction.

Sheila Hancock has said no. Might you be possibly interested? What do you think? Good. Well, if we're available next Tuesday, do tune in to our next one. We may be at the Celebrity Naked Attraction auditions. Who knows?

Speak for yourself. I want to discover where Susie Dent keeps that tattoo. Oh, we haven't talked about tattoos. We can talk about tattoos another day. There's so much. If you want to get in touch, you know what our address is. Oh, if people enjoy this, they should review it, shouldn't they, if they can? Or tell a friend.

Word of mouth is the best way of communicating. So word of mouth is important. But before we go, we have to have your trio. Yes, we do. This is three words from Susie. Well, a couple of idioms to start with involving animals. The first involves a beautiful fable about an animal, that animal or bird, I guess, being the swan.

It's a swan song. Have you ever wondered why the final performance given by somebody at the end of their career or, you know, the end of something anyway is called a swan song? Yes. Yeah, I've wondered. No, I didn't. I was just thinking Mrs May, the departing Prime Minister,

her last Prime Minister's Questions, her swan song. Her swan song, yes. Well, it goes back to the belief that swans, because this is ancient belief, that swans are born mute and they remain mute all their lives until the moment of their death when they sing the most beautiful, mournful song. It's not true because, in fact, swans have a wide range of vocal sounds, but it's an utterly beautiful myth, isn't it?

It's a wonderful myth. I like that one. So that's that. The second is dog's body. Now, everyone knows what a dog's body is. It's somebody who's just assigned all the most menial tasks. Yeah, telling I don't know the feeling. But actually, that first meant peas boiled in cloth aboard a ship.

That was dog's body. It was a joke amongst sailors that what they were about to eat That was dog's body. It was a joke amongst sailors that what they were about to eat was a dog's body. So then, presumably the person who had to cook all this mush was- Was assigned mushy peas, peas boiled in cloth. Yeah, I think it was not as delicious as mushy peas. So depending on where you stand on mushy peas, not literally. So yes, the person probably assigned to cook this horrible mess was then considered to be, you know, somebody the lowest of the low, I guess.

I have to interrupt. I always loved it when Peter Mendelsohn supposedly mistook mushy peas for guacamole. So that's a funny idea when he turned up at whatever constituency he was given. Anyway, go on. So that's the origin of dog's body. Dog's body.

And I mention this purely because in one of our future podcasts, we're going to talk about food. Oh, good. So that one fits. Oh, glorious. Food. I can sing hits from Oliver. And the third one?

The third one is cold turkey. Let's stay with turkeys. Now, I've mentioned before on the podcast that gobbledygook was coined by the son of samuel maverick um and we went into maverick and why he was called maverick um but cold turkey is something else if you go cold turkey obviously you are coming off uh something that you are dependent upon we think it simply goes back to the idea that um coming off something might um cause you to have goosebumps goose what do you call goosebumps or goose pimples what do you call them goosebumps is interesting that's

because your flesh is like exactly it's like the cold skin of a goose of a plucked goose of a plucked goose pretty horrible especially for a vegetarian but that's why we think we have goosebumps and cold turkey you always talk turkey What's the origin of talk turkey? Well, it probably goes back to gobbledygook. Ah, which is the son, which was originated by the son. Of Samuel Maverick, who gave us the word Maverick. Don't you agree, if you're listening to this podcast, that it's almost an erotic charge in hearing Susie Dent talk about the English language. This has been Something Rhymes with Purple.

Spread the word if you can. It's a Something Else production produced by Paul Smith with additional production. Oh, fuck off. That was, and please keep that in, that was the ludicrous Paul Smith making me look at the microphone as if people weren't hearing it. This is the bit they already switch off anyway.

They don't want the ads. They don't want this credit. They know that's, all they listen for is, I know this, all they want to hear is Susie on language. They tolerate me because occasionally they hear one of my stories they haven't heard before, but only rarely. They just want to hear Susie. And that's ludicrous. The producer was pointing at the microphone. You heard every word of that. It's amateur night, but it's done by Something Hell's Productions.

The work experience person appears to be Paul Smith. The traditional production from Lawrence Bassett, Steve Ackerman, and Gummy. Yes, well, I'm just going to get into the loo, and then I think it's going to be The Simpsons for us. Thank you. See you next Tuesday.