Something Rhymes with Purple - Oxford, Gibson and Brogue

Episode Date: April 2, 2024

This week Susie and Gyles delve back into a favourite topic, shoes. Inspired by purple person Kevin, the origins of all manner of footwear are discussed such as Oxford's, Brogue's and Gibson's.  We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us on our email address here: [e-mail] Want even more purple, people? Join the Purple Plus Club by clicking the banner in Apple podcasts or head to purpleplusclub.com to listen on other platforms. Enjoy Susie’s Trio for the week:  Obloquy: public condemnation. Myrmidon: Someone who unscrupulously follows someone more powerful.  Naiad: a nymph of lakes, springs and rivers. Gyles' poem this week is called 'Life Is Like A Pair Of New Shoes' by Cameron Delaney Life's like a pair of new shoes Their sparkling brand-new white hues The stiff soles and laces Tied up tightly like braces That eventually wear down as you use Life's like a pair of new shoes They go in directions you choose Down city street blocks Wherever you walk They stride along as you cruise Lifes like a pair of new sneaks When you first try to wear 'em they squeak You run down the court Of an athletic sport And you show off your skilled techniques Life's like a pair of new boots Some fashionable leather beauts You strut through the city And you look real pretty In your white collar buisness suits Life's like a pair of new shoes That wear out from years of good use But soon they get old And the insides have mold And by the trashcan we say our "adieus" A Sony Music Entertainment production.    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts     To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Hello, Giles here. And knowing that we have a family audience, and the Purple people often include some very young people, just to say that today's episode does include some language that some people may find uncomfortable or offensive. Hello and welcome to Something rhymes with purple Giles Brandris and I are all prepared to talk about one of our favorite subjects which we have touched on before although I don't spend a lot of time worrying about these I think Giles might be a person who does have, well, actually quite a few more than me. What are we talking about? Well, we will tell you after we just remind you, if we may, about our subscription podcast, our extra special or our special extra at the end of each program.

It's 15 minutes long and Giles and I sign into the Purple Plus Club and explore a little bit more, either about the subject that we've just been talking about in the main episode or more usually, a completely different subject altogether. And at the moment, we are going through our A to Z of wit and wisdom. So people who have contributed to our language or others with their special use of language. So it's $2.99 a month, which is the price of eggs, although as Giles says, it depends what eggs you're getting. But we would love to see you over there and we would love your company. So just a reminder that that is out there should you wish to join us. Some people would sacrifice their Fabergé egg to be a member of the Purple Plus Club.

Would they? I've never even... Oh, I think I have seen a Fabergé egg. They are quite impressive. Do you have one? No, of course I don't have one, but I've seen a number of them. They have quite a collection at Buckingham Palace, which are sometimes on show. And if you go, which you won't be in the near future, but if you go to Russia, and what is the town that used to be called Leningrad? St. Petersburg? St. Petersburg. You go to St. Petersburg. I'm just catching up with so much. I'm really so behind the times. If you go to St. Petersburg, in one of the museums there, is it the Hermitage? There's an amazing collection of Fabergé on show. Funnily enough, for me, they're rather garish. Well, this leads me onto the riddle that I said,

it's not really a riddle, but what was I talking about at the top of this episode? And I don't know, am I right? Do you really care about these things? Well, what could it possibly be that I would care about more than you? Is it, I mean, I care more about hair, but I've got less hair than you. Is it, is it, I mean, I care more about hair, but I've got less hair than you.

Handbags? Handbags. I have, I do still have the handbag that I had when I played Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest. I have kept that. And I do still have the ministerial box that I had when I was a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury. But I think it's going to be bags. My wife has many more bags. Oh, I know what, ah, I know what it is. I've guessed what it is because traditionally women are supposed to have many more of these than men are. And my wife certainly has many more shoes. Aha, spot on. Well, I mean, I'm all right with shoes, but I would not spend hours of my day browsing the internet to look at new shoes. Similarly with handbags.

One good, lovely rucksack is good for me. I've got a nice leather rucksack that has done me for many years. And I just, not my bag, so to speak. Not me, yeah. But what about shoes? Well, shoes for me, I've got scores, literally. Scores of pairs of shoes, but I can't find any that are comfortable. This is the horror.

I buy shoes. I go to get shoes. I'm looking entirely for comfort, and I just can't get them. And so I've got these shoes that seemed all right in the shop. Bring them home. I've just worn them a bit too much to take them back. So I would say that I've got downstairs 20 or 30 pairs of shoes that I almost never wear. And I wear the same two pairs of shoes all the time and keep

getting them rehealed and resold because they're just about comfortable. Though I think either my feet are getting fatter or they're getting weaker, the shoes, because they're beginning to pinch me at the sides. Well, leave that thought there because we are going to talk about shoes that are both, I assume, incredibly uncomfortable. I remember having a pair of Winkle pickers when I was about 16 and I could barely lift my toe, let alone walk a step. And we're going to talk about shoes that are, I think, probably pretty comfortable once they're worn in. So should we kick off? It was actually inspired by a purple person. It was Kevin in Huntingdon who alerted us to shoes that we hadn't covered in Shoes Part 1.

Because believe it or not, we have done an episode called Ultra Crepidarian, if you remember that word. No, I don't remember that word. Okay. Well, that was very pertinent to shoes. An Ultra Crepidarian, we all know one. It's someone who loves to hold forth on subjects they know very little about. And just a reminder of the stories, it involves a Greek painter called Apelles. I'm sure I've told you this recently. Greek painter called Apelles, who liked to eavesdrop on people who would go to his shows and admire his paintings, assuming, of course, that he would hear nothing but Folsom praise. And I use Folsom in the modern sense of the word there. And he overheard a cobbler who came in and started criticizing Apelis' rendition of a sandal on one of his pictures. And Apelis thought, well, fair enough, he's a cobbler, he knows what he's talking about, making a mental note to improve

his sandals in future. Then he heard the cobbler proceed to criticize the shape of the calf on the subject that Apelis was painting. And that was it. Apelles lost his rag and essentially told him that he should not comment on things that he did not know anything about. And this story was retold by the Romans, who produced a motto in Latin, which was, ne ultra crepidam, not beyond the slipper or the sole of the shoe. In other words, do not go beyond what you know about. Great story. It's a great word, ultracrepidaria. Very great. Yeah, lovely. So should we listen to Kevin's email? Because this is the one that's inspired us. Hi, Susie and Giles. I've been following the Something Rhymes with Purple podcast for some

years now and have a much better understanding of my native language as a result. I have been following the Something Rhymes with Purple podcast for some years now and have a much better understanding of my native language as a result. I have also learned six poems by heart, thanks to the advice of Giles and your splendid book, Dancing by the Light of the Moon. To the point of this message, I have been wondering about all the different names for types of footwear, for instance Gibson shoes, Oxfords, Vogue's, sandals, espadrilles, wellingtons, the list seems endless. Could Susie possibly cast some light on the origins of these descriptions and why there are so many? Should you answer my question, you'll find me and my wife listening on a Sunday, preparing lunch whilst nursing a pleasant glass of sherry. Thank you for being part of our Sunday routine. Best wishes, Kevin from Huntingdon. Well, brilliant question. Thank you to Kevin.

Brilliant. And also, wonderfully evoked the listening of the podcast, Sunday morning, and a glass of sherry. Gosh, it's years since I had a glass of sherry. I used to like it. Yeah. Did you ever like it not really sherry's not not really my thing but i do love the idea of sunday mooching because quite often the purple people tell us they were walking the dog or falling asleep either of those so okay so jars what is your footwear of choice? My footwear of choice is a shoe that doesn't have laces, that it's a slip-on shoe.

Yeah. It's a simple slip-on shoe. But the shoe I'd like to know most quickly about is because people used to call them Oxfords. And indeed, it was mentioned there by Kevin. What are Oxford shoes? Are they to do with the University of Oxford, the City of Oxford? Why are they called Oxford shoes?

Yes, City of Oxford, I think they were associated with Oxford. I mean, there are still some wonderful old shoemakers in Oxford, I have to say. And in fact, the word snob, believe it or not, was thought to originate in Oxford as a word for cobblers. But unfortunately, they gained a reputation of trying to suck up to the nobility, and so snob took a different turn. But an Oxford shoe is simply a lace-up shoe with a low heel, often suede, I think, but yeah, definitely associated with the town and the city rather. I imagine they are very comfy. You think they are? I mean, it's the laces that are the problem because I, as my wife says to me, you must have gone to a very poor nursery

school. You can't even tie up your laces properly. I do it apparently in a very childish way. I make two sort of bows and tie the two bows together. And my wife says that's why they keep coming undone. So I can't really wear shoes with laces because the laces are constantly coming undone. Yes, I'm very similar. What does that say about us? I was taught by my grandmother, and she taught me while she was sitting in front of me. Hence, I learned to tie my shoelaces up sort of backwards, if you like, or in in reverse and mine are always coming undone always but i think shoes these days come with incredibly long laces which is quite annoying especially trainers now you see you mentioned that possibly being suede oxford shoes i think they're always

my instinct is they're usually leather okay maybe you maybe usually love that but you can definitely can get suede versions are you see are brogues the same thing as shoes? I mean, I think brogues. Are there Oxford brogues, or is brogues just another word for shoe? Gosh, I don't know whether there are Oxford brogues. Probably. But a brogue is more considered to be an outdoor shoe, I think. And brogues always have that ornamental perforation, don't they, in the leather?

The traditional ones have those perforated patterns. Originally, though, they were really rough shoes and it was untanned leather, so nothing kind of smooth and polished. And they were worn in parts of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands. And in fact, the word probably comes from Scottish Gaelic, and it might be related to breech, as in your breeches or breeches. So you mentioned Irish brogues, but not with an Irish brogue. Is that just a coincidence? No, it's not. That the brogue is the shoe?

Oh, really? No, well, we don't know for sure, but the assumption is that the sort of person who would wear these rough shoes of untanned leather also spoke with a very distinctive accent. So it's possible that equation was made. Goodness. also spoke with a very distinctive accent so it's possible that equation was made goodness so speaking in a brogue an accent comes is named after the shoe rather than the other way around possibly yes definitely comes from the shoe though it would come from the shoe because that that

shoe sense came first it's extraordinary it's interesting isn't it give me you can tell me next that mules have got something to do with the animal um no they don't so mules are sort of like uh they're almost kind of slingbacks aren't they really um i would say they're more like slippers i feel they're slippers yeah my wife's got some mules actually they're not slingbacks they don't they're backless they've got light shoes yes um and believe it or not the first sense of mule, the first meaning was a chilblain. So yeah, not a particularly nice thing to have. I suppose you might get them if your mules are too tight. But the Latin word mule, M-U-L-L-E-I, was already a type of red high-soled shoe.

And ultimately then it would go back to a word meaning reddish. So it went from Latin meaning red to a French word meaning a chilblain and then onto English. Goodness. I know. Very strange. My wife's got mules. She's also in her collection of slivers. She's got some moccasins. Oh, yes. Well, a moccasin is one of many, many words that the early settlers in North America discovered when they arrived. And they borrowed from indigenous languages there. I mean, obviously, the encounters, as I always say, weren't necessarily happy ones between those

who were coming to stake their territory and those who rightfully had that land already. But moccasin is, I think, from Algonquian language, yes, found in Virginia and other indigenous languages, actually, of North America. But that's where it came from. And a moccasin is very soft, isn't it? It's a leather slipper and it's got the sole turned up on all sides and then sewn to the upper so it's like a simple gathered seam all the way around we're very lucky in one of our rooms or maybe more no i think one of our rooms we've got underfloor heating when we had the room redone the kitchen yeah but underfloor heating and i love kicking off the mules kicking off the moccasins and walking around in bare feet yes yes that Yes. That's lovely. I know.

It's lovely for cats, I have to say. I've got it in the kitchen and I think it's probably costing me a fortune, but the cat loves it. She's got a little bed on the warm bits. Give me some more types of footwear. Okay. So I can't imagine you in espadrilles. Oh.

It's just making me laugh. These are sandals, French sandals, open-toed sandals? Espadrilles, well, they can be open-toed, but espadrilles are the ones with the laces or the kind of hemp laces that wind up around the leg, up the leg. Oh, like a Roman soldier would wear. Well, a little bit, but quite often they've got heels. I'm going to give you the dictionary definition because I don't think I've described it very well. A light canvas shoe with a plaited fibre sole,

but it does have those laces that go up the leg. How interesting. I thought it was much more like a sandal. Well, they can be sandals, but I think for me an espadrille will always have those, that will always have that sort of canvas sole and heel, but it also has the laces going up the leg. And it comes from a Spanish word meaning rope, essentially, made from a coarse grass with really tough leaves that's native to Spain and North Africa. So those are

espadrilles. I think you will be able to tell me about Welles. Of course, the Duke of Wellington. Yeah. So much named after the Duke of Wellington, not just cities. But I mean, he was such a hero in Britain and consequently through the British Empire and therefore affecting the English language in his time, not just as a great general, but also later prime minister, which I think he found quite challenging. He was told, he asked how his first cabinet meeting was when he became prime minister quite late in life. He said, how did the first cabinet meeting go? He said,

extraordinary. We met up, I gave them their orders, and then they spent an hour discussing them. I don't think he really quite got the idea. But he gave his name to the Wellington boot, which I imagine was a kind of boot worn by, was it the men or was it merely the officers when he was leading them? Yes, worn by the first Duke of Wellington, the great general, after obviously famous from the Battle of Waterloo. And they were long and leather originally. So the rubber wellies or the kind of waterproof plastic ones that we wear these days, they didn't catch on until the beginning of the 20th century. But as you say, named after him for sure.

Now, I think we talked about clogs probably in our early episode, and the earliest meaning of clog was a block of wood. And rather horribly, it was often fastened to the leg of an animal to stop it moving too far. It was not nice. Anyway, the wooden-soled shoe is almost as early as that. And again, it's the idea of a block of wood. Worn everywhere by factory and manual workers in the north of England, actually.

So incredibly popular for a while so that's the clog and uh i think just trying to think oh kevin mentions gibson shoes which i wasn't familiar with at all and i can't find much about gibson well there were characters called gibson girls yeah in the 1930s yeah uh who were i mean i say this i'm this i'm speaking off the top of my head gibson girls, could that be? Were they girls? They were sort of flapper types. And I imagine they wore rather sparkly, high-heeled shoes.

I'm just looking this up. The Gibson girl was represented in the work of Charles D. Gibson. So he was an illustrator. So he was the one who gave them their name. But if you look up a Gibson shoe, they're men's shoes. Oh. And all I can imagine is that it was just the name of the designer. I can't think of more than that, Kevin.

But if you do know more or can describe more a Gibson shoe, let us know. But I think they are a little bit like sort of soft leather, soft-soled leather shoes for men, as far as I can tell. Or if you are a Gibson, if you are one of the great family get in touch it just just came into my head oh yes have you did you ever meet giles may west oh how i would love to have met may west before your time yeah before my time but what a remarkable woman actually she became a bit of a caricature of herself towards the end of her life she was remarkable and we were talking about this on Countdown this week, actually, is just how much of an ally and advocate she was for women in the film industry. And,

you know, it was one of the really few strident female voices to be heard. And so amusing about herself and about sex, a pioneer of openness. And absolutely, as a film director, as an author of her own words, as a film star, she made a fortune in her day. And we're doing this on the Purple Plus Club, people who kindly subscribe and tune into that. We're doing an A to Z of wit and wisdom. And I think when we get to W, she should be up there. Move over, Oscar Wilde. Come in, Mae West. Mae West. Well, the reason I mention her here is that, have you ever seen her shoes? Oh, no. They are extraordinary because she was tiny by all accounts. She was about five foot.

And she had a shoe within a shoe. So some of her shoes were platform, which is fine to add to her height, but she literally inserted or had inserted a shoe on top of another shoe. I just don't know how she could walk. Have a look online anyway, and you'll see what I'm talking about. I'd love to. Also, there is a thing called a Mae Wester, isn't there?

Is it a... Well, there's a lifeboat. I think it's... There's a lifeboat, yes. Sailor's Lang was the hour, whichboat yes i don't think that's that's a pretty sexist um term i think it's just because it's not in the dictionary we can't uh it probably is you may not approve of it but it exists um an inflatable life jacket because she was noted for her large bust indeed and made and and forgive, but made a feature of her large bust.

Oh, yeah. She would have been flattered. You think she would have approved? She would totally have approved. That's the fascinating thing about her. She was both, she was a very canny individual. She always, if you'll pardon the expression,

ended up on top. She made jokes about herself, but she got the last laugh. So I wouldn't worry about the Mae West. She probably made some money out of it as well. She was a crafty woman. Let's hope so. That would be good. So I will just end with the Winkle Picker. So the one that I absolutely could not walk in. And they are so pointy and so foot-wrecking that they look a little bit like the tools that you use to pick out winkles from their shell. Winkles being, what are winkles? Are they mollusks? Yeah, well, they're like, I don't know, they're like mule or snails or they're a sort of fish-type version of, they're little, and there's a bit of meat inside that you pick out

to eat. Yes. Here we go. Small herbivorous shore-dwelling mollusk. There are. Yes. So, there you go. That's our look at shoes. And at some point, we can look back to all the idioms containing shoes. I think we've covered a few of them before. But should we have a break and then move to some correspondence? Let's do that because the day, I mean, I'm going to die with my boots on and I want to know what the origin of that expression is. And you're quaking in your boots in case I say something unfortunate all the time. Never mind. Forget our daisy roots. Is that rhyming slang for boots? Daisy roots? Yeah, maybe. I've not heard it actually. I think you have my daisy roots, yes.

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Wherever you go, we'll go together. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Visit amex.ca slash yamx. Benefits vary by card. Terms apply. Welcome back to Something Rhymes with Purple, where Giles and I have been waxing lyrical, or not, as the case may be, about shoes. But that was down to the wonderful Purple person that was Kevin who wrote in to ask us. And we do love getting your emails. And I think this is my favorite part of the podcast every week, Giles, is listening to these

queries that come into us. My favorite bit of doing the podcast is walking in the street or being on the London Underground and somebody coming up to me and saying, I'm a purple person, and then they walk away. They simply want to acknowledge that they are a purple person. And they are always nice, interesting looking, intelligent intelligent people. Yeah. It's fantastic. I'm with you. We love the purple community. So who have we heard from today? So the first email that we had in, and do remember our correspondence address, should

you wish to send something in, is purplepeopleatsomethingrhymes.com. And that's exactly what Jason did from Abu Dhabi, in fact. And do you have it there, Giles? Do you want to read it out? Hello, Susie and Joss. I came across a post on X highlighting slang terms for getting drunk through the period 1900 to 1951. It's remarkable how colourful the language is when it comes to intoxication. My favourites in this list are spificated, blotto, and fluey, in that order. I'd be interested to know the origins of these words which sound

rather strange to modern ears thank you for fanning the flames of curiosity when it comes to this weird and truly wonderful language we call english on we march signed jason tyrant t-i-r-a-n-t from abu dhabi in the united arab emirates Now those three words, I wonder, when we did an episode, as I'm sure we must have done, on P.G. Woodhouse, the great plum Woodhouse, I have a feeling Spifflicated might be one of the ones that he first came up with. He certainly had characters

who were blotto, if not flowy. All of those are wonderful. I will just start this by saying that there was some research that was published reasonably recently that was talking about drunkenims. Okay, so drunkenims are all the synonyms and all the words in English for being drunk. And my goodness, this article said there were 546. And I'm sure there's more than that. But it's a bit depressing that if we know that the Scots have so many words for snow as do the Inuit, we have so many words for being drunk. That makes me quite sad. But what it did

encourage is a conversation as to how you can take almost any word in English and turn it into an adjective meaning drunk if you stick ed on the end of it. So I was totally computed last night, for example, or I was absolutely carpeted, or I was utterly lampshaded, you name it. I'm just looking around my room at the moment, but that is pretty much what you can do. And I suppose that is quite lovely, isn't it? Because that does suggest that we are actually quite inventive, if not constantly drunk.

I promise I'm not drunk. I'm getting my words all mixed up. But spifflicated, P.G. Woodhouse may have used that one, but it's actually from the mid-18th century. And it was just entirely fanciful. So, it was just a made-up word because it does sound rather lovely, doesn't it? So, that was that one. What were the other ones? Blotto. Oh, blotto. Well, I'm looking this one up. I think blotto is more recent. Indeed, it is.

It's described as fuddled with liquor. I love the word befuddled and fuddled. 1917, that one. And blotto, I suppose you are, well, if you're fuddled, then your brain is blotted out, isn't it? You are very, very fuzzy-headed. And actually, one old term for the pub was the fuddle shop a very long time ago. I like that, the fuddle shop. The fuddle shop.

So, yes, so many different words for being drunk. What about, you came up with flu-y as well, F-L-O-E-Y. Flu-y in terms of feeling, you know, like you have flu rather than drink. But again, it's one of those ones that I think if used in the right context, you would absolutely understand what people are talking about. So yeah, and Benjamin Franklin famously wrote the Drinker's Dictionary, and we famously, Giles, or not so famously, have devoted at least one episode to alcohol. And I think we talk about all the words for being drunk as well. We may have to do it again. I noticed that Jason is writing to us from Abu Dhabi,

and I think there are parts of the United Arab Emirates where alcohol is not encouraged or even allowed. So maybe that's why he sits there. He's not able to drink, so he sits there going through the dictionary, getting familiar with slang terms for being drunk. There's another one here. Share this one with us, would you, Susan? So, dear Susie and Giles, this is from Trish Askew in York in the UK. In our Italian class recently, we were reading an article about ladybirds. They're thought to bring good fortune in many countries, and the word in some languages refers to the Madonna, e.g. Madonna's cow. I've never associated the lady in Lady Bird with the Madonna, so wonder what the origin of the word is. And then you can read the next bit if you

like, actually, Giles, because this is about Tom Swifties, which is your game. Absolutely. I was pleased to hear the mention of Tom Swifties recently. Many years ago, they were introduced to me by, I think, Roger Taylor on Radio 4, and I've always loved them. One of my favourites is, I'm having an affair with the Gamekeeper, said the lady chattily. Oh, that's brilliant. Oh, I love it. I'd love some more of these on your podcast, please. Many thanks for the entertaining way you inform us each week.

The podcast is great. Well, we like the compliments as well. Thank you, Trish Askew from York. You answer the first question, please. Well, it's interesting because in German, the ladybird is the Marienkäfer, which is the lady beetle. And in America, we have ladybug as well, don't we? Yes. So it absolutely is associated with Mary. And I know that the robin's red breast, the bird, is supposed to come because it soaked up some blood that had fallen from the Virgin Mary, I think. No, not from the Virgin Mary, sorry, from Jesus.

And so it was supposed to get its red chest from there. get its um bread chest from there and i think there are similar legends in the ladybird and how many spots there are and and um uh you know references to the bible so there is definitely a biblical element there to the ladybird um and uh it's it's beautiful but i love it reminded me of all the words up and down the country for the um woodlouse do you remember? And some of those involve pigs this time. So the Madonna cow reminded me of, there's a cheesy pig, for example. I can't remember what part of the UK that they are associated with, but we have so many different words for woodlice as well. So yeah, so there is the natural native ladybird for us, isn't there? And then there is the species that is taking over and pushing us out, I think. Yeah, that's the way it goes. But change is the

one constant. We've got to live with it. Well, that's very true. But yes, do look up. There are hundreds and hundreds of theories, I think, as to why they have spots and why they are associated with the Virgin Mary. But there definitely are associations there. And the possibility of Tom Swifties is virtually infinite because it's just a game you play. Like, I'm freezing, Tom remarked icily. This crossword is impossible, Tom said cryptically. Oh, that's a good one.

It's quite good, isn't it? Yeah, that is good. Pass the damn shellfish, said Tom crabby. Go to the back of the ship, Tom said sternly. Rather like that one, don't you? I'd like my money back, and then some, said Tom with interest. And this one, I remember when I first came across these in America in the 1960s during my gap year. And I don't know whether this will still work for you. I dropped my toothpaste, Tom said, crestfallen. Do you get it?

Oh, I love that. Do you remember? There was a brand of toothpaste called Crest. I'm not sure if there is any longer. And I've got one more theory for the ladybird. Okay, give us that. Which is that in early images, the Virgin Mary would appear wearing a red cloak. But there are others that account for the spot.

So, yeah. You had one more, and I'm going to have one last one. Okay. Said Tom sheepishly. Thank you. Very, very good. And good night. And good night. night well not before my three years people if you want to be in touch with us just drop us a line purple people at something rhymes dot com is where you find us and you find suzy right here right now with three fabulous words for us right here right now there's a song like that isn't there. Okay. So my first one for you is an obloquy. Obloquy, which is a state of disgrace resulting from public abuse. It's very specific. So obloquy. So that is spelt

O-B-L-O-Q-U-Y. And essentially what it means is public condemnation, which is very common these days. You will probably know about a myrmidon, Giles. Have you heard of that? Yes, I have heard of it. What is a kind of mythical creature? Well, they were an ancient Greek tribe in Greek mythology, the myrmidons. And in English, it has been transferred to mean a subordinate of a powerful person who just carries out anything they ask. So someone who unthinkingly or maybe unscrupulously follows

someone more powerful, a myrmidon. So that's spelled M-Y-R-M-I-D-O-N. Good. I like that one. Excellent. And my third word is just, I think many of the purple people will be familiar with this one. I just love it. And this is quite useful, actually, for word games. A naiad. Spelled N-A-I-A-D. I think it's a beautiful first name as well, naiad. And it's a nymph of lakes, springs, and rivers. A water nymph, naiad. That's beautiful. So do you, Giles, have a poem for us today? Well, I'm sure the poem I had in mind, and I have got it in mind because it's one I know by heart,

is one I've performed before, Goloshes by Paul Jennings. So I found a different poem. Life is like a pair of new shoes. This is by an American poet, as will become clear because some of the references from Cameron Delaney are American, but it works for me. Yeah. Life's like a pair of new shoes. They're sparkling brand new white hues. The stiff soles and laces tied up tightly like braces that eventually wear down as you use. Life's like a pair of new shoes.

They go in directions you choose. Down city street blocks, wherever you walk, they stride along as you cruise. Life's like a pair of new sneaks. When you first try to wear them, they squeaks. You run down the court of an athletic sport and you show off your skilled techniques. Life's like a pair of new boots, some fashionable leather boots. You strut through the city and you look real pretty in your white collar business suits. Life's like a pair of new shoes that wear out from years of good use, but soon they get old and the insides have mold and by the trash can we say are reduced. I haven't heard that one before.

No. That's great. And I didn't practice it enough because I kept stumbling over it. I never know when I'm doing an American poem whether I should do an American accent. If I could do a better one, perhaps I would be allowed to, but I don't know. No, it's a tricky one. I'm with you. I wouldn't want to be any actor trying an American accent or a British accent if it's

not their native accent, for sure. But some of them do it so brilliantly. I have to tell you, it's extraordinary when they do. You know, so I salute that. I agree. I absolutely agree. And we salute you, Purple people, for joining us. Thank you so much for being part of this.

Please don't forget the Purple Plus Club should you fancy listening ad-free, where Darls and I will poodle off now, actually, to talk about words and language, and specifically at the moment, wit and wisdom. Oh, yes. It'll soon be May Western time. I'm looking forward to that. Something Rhymes with Purple is a Sony

Music Entertainment production produced by Naya Deo, with additional production from Jen Mistry, Charlie Morell, Ollie Wilson, and Matthias Torres-Zolle.