Something Rhymes with Purple - Slughorn

Episode Date: April 13, 2021

Welcome to this week’s tissue meeting where we’re doing our finest Mad Men impressions to get you subliminally hooked on the words we have to offer. From ‘5 o’clock shadow’ to ‘va va voom’ we’ve put a ‘tiger in our tank’ to discover the language that advertising has gifted to us in this episode which ‘does exactly what is says on the tin’. Simples. After discussing the most memorable advertising taglines, Susie gets into the technical language of adverts and slogans, and Gyles reveals his connection to Tony the Tiger… is there anyone that Gyles hasn’t met?! A Somethin’ Else Production. And we want to hear about your favourite adverts and ad campaigns from around the world - please let us know your catchiest slogans and catchphrases via [e-mail] Susie’s Trio: Nidificate - to make or build a nest Filipendulous - hanging by a thread Deliquesce - to melt away or gradually dissolve Our fabulous new range of merchandise is now live at https://kontraband.shop/collections/something-rhymes-with-purple PLUS for this first week we are giving you 10% off all items if you use the code purple2021. So whether you’re buying a treat for yourself or a gift for a Purple loved one then now is the time to do it. Visit rosettastone.co.uk/podcast to find links to Rosetta Stone’s More Than Words podcast on all your favourite podcast platforms, PLUS 50% off all Rosetta Stone courses – including their lifetime subscriptions, which give access to all 24 languages offered, for life! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Something else. Download Bumble and try it for yourself. Hello and welcome to another episode of Something Rhymes with Purple with me, Susie Dent, and my brilliant co-host who I can see on a Zoom window, Giles Brandreth. Hi, Giles. How are you doing? I'm okay. If I was to say to you, lip-smacking, thirst-quenching, ace-tasting, motivating, good, buzzing, cool, talking high, walking fast,

living ever-giving, cool, fizzing. Do you know what comes next? No, I love the way you say it there. Say it again. Do you not remember this? I don't remember it. This is something I memorised as a child. I'm sure lots of the purple people will remember it. Well, you're a generation younger than me,

so I may have missed out on it. Do it again, though, because it was quite fun. Lip-smacking, thirst-quenching, ace-tasting, motivating, good-buzzing, cool-talking, high-walking, fast-living, ever-giving, cool-fizzing. Pepsi. Pepsi. Pepsi. I even had a silver belt when I was young with all of that written on it. How fabulous.

With my hot pants. I absolutely loved it. And actually, we're talking about advertising today, so I thought I'd kick off with that. And I think it's an amusing idea that you're wearing the hot pants to prove to me that you can still get into them. The silver belt is charming too. They were bright pink, and I'm afraid to say that's what exactly it is.

I must say, they're not that any longer. You've clearly washed them on a regular basis. They're looking a little bit pale. But yes, isn't it interesting the way, well, clearly it works. It's in your head. It's still there after all these years. Do you think it made you drink more Pepsi? Did it make you choose Pepsi as opposed to Coke, which I suppose is the other big rival at the time. Yes, I'm afraid to say it worked. Not forever, because when I was studying in America and would go into breakfast in the college canteen, Diet Coke was actually on tap for breakfast. And I'm afraid that was the beginning of an addiction, genuine addiction that lasted for quite a long time. But a bit like Rishi Sunak, I have now, I've not just restricted myself like Rishi, I have actually stopped.

But for a while, it was always Pepsi. And honestly, it was just a brilliant ad. Well, I like advertising. And I think I really fell in love with it when probably you were still at school. Well, in fact, you were, but maybe you were hardly born. I was at university and I went to the Soviet Union for the first time during a holiday, one of my holidays. I got a visa and went behind the Iron Curtain, as it was then called, and went to Moscow. And the real thing that struck me most about life behind the Iron Curtain was no advertising.

We just take it for granted here. There's color, there's lights, there's posters, there's everything going on, selling you things. But behind the Iron Curtain in those days, there was no advertising of any kind, no hoardings. And you actually missed it. You missed the vibrancy of it. And of course, that slogan worked. Otherwise, they wouldn't go on doing it. Millions, billions. It's a huge industry, advertising. It's fascinating. Billions, billions. It's a huge industry, advertising. It's fascinating. And the reason we're talking about it today is you reminded me the other day that some quite distinguished writers started out as copywriters working in advertising agencies. Was it, who was it

who came up with the naughty but nice to advertise fresh cream cakes? Yes, that was Salman Rushdie. Goodness. So, yes, so that was one of his, which is extraordinary. And you're absolutely right. We were talking about that with hyperbole, weren't we? So we thought we would dedicate an entire episode to advertising. I'm not sure if it's a generational thing,

but I look back with real fondness on some of the brilliant, brilliant ads of my youth. And now if I'm kind of watching stuff on playback or whatever, and then we'll be looking at the ads as well because I'm too mean to pay for no ads. I don't think they're as good. I find them more obvious. And I've got a lot of friends in advertising, so I'm letting them down completely with this. But I just think they've lost their edge a little bit.

Maybe it's the TV ads that are just not cutting it for me anyway. But it might just be because I'm getting older. I think it's to do with nostalgia because I don't remember advertising from my childhood because my parents didn't think that we middle-class people should have ITV. So when ITV was introduced in 1957 on British television, my parents didn't get it. And in fact, they didn't. They got it until the 1960s. So my recollections, when you're remembering the ads you heard as a little girl, I can remember sitting on the sofa on a Saturday afternoon and Partick Thistle, three, Accrington Stanley, two. That's what, for me, is a sort of echo of childhood.

So I think it may be to do with nostalgia. Also, of course, the advertising today isn't necessarily geared at you or me. Somebody who was in the world of advertising explained to me, I said, why are there so many advertisements for cars and for banks on TV? Is it because they're so rich? He said, no, it's because when you decide on your car or your bank, you stick with it for a lifetime. So what these ads are trying to do are to get young people, get them on board. And then,

I mean, are you with the same bank you were with 20 years ago? I'm with the same branch I joined, NatWest, Oxford High Street, 121 High Street, Oxford. I've been with that branch since 1966. People don't change their bank and they tend not to change their car either. The first sort of proper grown-up car you buy is the car you stick with. So they spend a fortune, because once they've hooked you, they've hooked you forever. Yeah. So now you being, I'm afraid, what we would call middle-aged, and me being what we would call old, we are not the people they're advertising. You may be right. You might be right.

So that, well, that's my instinct. How long do you, I mean, I know a little bit about the history of advertising only because I read a book a few years ago called The Shocking History of Advertising because my family featured in it. But I think they basically concentrated on the 19th century, and I know that's the real birth of modern advertising. But do we know how far back advertising goes and what it was in the early days? I think it goes back almost to the beginning of

civilization. So if you look at the ancient worlds, I mean, the Egyptians actually advertised their wares on papyrus and the Romans sort of promoted political candidates on coins. Newspapers, I mean, obviously that's much more recently, but they've carried adverts for medicines, including Brandreth's wonderful pills, forever. But I think in terms of the modern advertising age, it was probably pear soap in the 1880s, which most people then sort of credit with the first modern print ad. And, you know, it's astonishing just how much it has grown. And also suffered, I think, during the pandemic, there's been a real downturn inevitably, because people couldn't go on holidays or, you know, they didn't have as much disposable income. But I imagine it will see a resurgence,

and it will be back to normal before too long. I admire people in the ad industry. Like you, I've known many. In fact, I was offered a job as a copywriter in America in the 1960s. And I was sorely tempted because as the man offering me the job explained, what you've got to try to do is create a story, create a drama, create a disturbance. He was very keen on that idea that every advertisement slightly disturbs you. There's something in it that arrests you. And you've got to tell this story

often in 20 seconds, 30 seconds, a minute at most. Bring the whole world. And to try and do that economically, visually, with words and pictures, is quite an art. Yeah. No, it is an art. And also a very well-paid art

because, you know, the best copywriters are literally millionaires because they have created so much business for the brands that they are so brilliantly promoting. called Alan Brady and Marsh. And he was famous for securing the contract to look after British Rail. Do you remember British Rail? I remember British Rail. Before denationalization. Anyway, British Rail were looking for a new advertising agency and did this thing of going around different agencies for them to pitch. And they turned up at Alan Brady and Marsh for their appointment, which was nine o'clock on a Tuesday morning. And they turned up at Alan Brady and Marsh for their appointment, which was nine o'clock on a Tuesday morning. And they arrived somewhere, I think it was Charlotte Street in London. And they arrived at the office and they got in and the receptionist was sitting behind the desk looking very bored, looked up, barely glanced at them, told them to sit and wait.

And they sat down and the reception area was filthy. There was old newspapers and spilt cups of coffee and it really was ghastly. Anyway, they were waiting there for about 40 minutes. And eventually the man from British Rail got up and said, I'm afraid we're going to have to leave now. At which point Peter Marsh, who ran the agency, emerged from a back room and said, well, now you know what it's like to be a customer of British Rail. And he got the contract as a result of that. So they're clever people. They're canny, crafty people. What could be some of your favourite or the most memorable adverts for you? For me? Well, oh Lord, I did like putting a tiger in your tank. Was this Esso? Esso wants to make your, was your was it yes we've talked about this before because

eso blue had the same jingle as opal fruit which were the predecessors of starburst so i always used to somehow mix the two up and say eso blue made to make your mouth water which is obviously completely not right um but uh tiger in your tank i think there was oh what was he called tony the tiger he was for cocoa pops or something there you are sugar puffs this shows me how confused i am i But Tiger in Your Tank, I think there was, oh, what was he called? Tony the Tiger. He was for Cocoa Pops or something. There you are. Sugar Puffs or something. This shows me how confused I am. I may get you if I can see where it is in this room.

In the 1970s, 80s, Kellogg's, they used to give away little books, joke books, puzzle books, cartoon books in their packets of Kellogg's Corn Flakes and Cocoa Puffs and all the other things. And I wrote those little books. And I've got, I'm in the room at home where I keep all my past triumphs. I think Tony the Tiger was Frosty's. Ah, okay. Well, that's so interesting, isn't it? Because we remember the ad, but we don't actually remember the brand. I mean, there are several criteria, I think, or at least several strategies, aren't there, to make a successful ad, really. I like the ones that are deliberately sort of understated. So they almost take the mickey out of themselves,

which I think is A, very British and B, very effective. So if you think about Marmite, you know, they say you either love it or hate it. And of course, Marmite has entered the dictionary, meaning something you either love or somebody you either really love or you really can't stand. So that was very clever. And Skoda, you know, Skoda actually, I think, don't they use the chassis of much more expensive models? So effectively, they're the same cars, but because they had a sort of slightly poor person's reputation, their ad was, it's a Skoda, honest. In other words, yes, this wonderful car that you're looking at really is a Skoda. I think that's really clever. Economy, in the use of words, is clearly key.

Yeah, just do it. Is that Nike? That's Nike. And is it pronounced Nike or Nike? Nike, I think, named after the goddess of victory. So a very clever use of the name. And there's a wonderful word, Nakedonia, which is the anticipation of victory, which is quite a useful word. And yes, that sort of taciturnity, if you like. There's also, I'm loving it with McDonald's, but with no G, I'm loving it. And that's been really influential

grammatically as well, because that tense, I am loving something, really, really took off after the McDonald's ad. So that had a sort of significant impact on the English language, which of course is the Holy Grail, really. I was always amazed at the success of Ronald McDonald, because I know a lot of people... Oh, he's so scary looking. Exactly. What is that fear of clowns called, that phobia of clowns? Oh yes, that's me, courophobia. Exactly. It's well known that people have a fear of clowns. And there is Ronald McDonald,

not looking to me like a terribly appealing clown, looking like a rather sinister figure. And yet they use him, don't they? Yes, and actually the charity, which is, is it called the Ronald McDonald Charity? Anyway, the McDonald's charity is huge. They do a huge amount. So, yes, clearly, you know, scary for some, but not for others. And successful, as you say. And it's interesting as well, thinking about Ronald McDonald, the sort of memorable characters that you have.

I mean, you and I will remember Milk Tray Man and All Because. Oh, the lady loves Milk Tray. You couldn't do that now, could you? Because it's bad form. It could be politically incorrect. It was a kind of such a James Bond character. It's politically incorrect on all sorts of levels. Of course.

He's swinging into a person's bedroom without their permission. Dressed in black. Dressed in black. He's calling her a lady. How patronising can you get? And he thinks he's got access because she likes chocolates. I mean, please. I mean, get up.

But it was clever because it gave that James Bond feel to, let's face it, usually the cheaper end of the chocolate range. So it was an incredibly clever ad. Speaking of which, I was talking about mummies the other day, you know, those Egyptian mummies. I was hearing about somebody who'd had their horse stuffed, taxidermy for their horse, because they were so sad to lose it. And I explained that I was planning to get my body stuffed when I die, because my wife has said to me for years, get stuffed. And I thought, well, when I die, I will. And then I can sit in the hallway like a sort of figure. She can put on different jumpers on me every day. And it is done, as you know, there's Jeremy Bentham at UCL

in London, Jeremy Bentham, the philosopher. His mummified body is on display at University College London. So you can get stuff. Anyway, I was mentioning this to somebody, and they said to me, what do you get when you pour nuts and chocolates all over an Egyptian mummy? And the answer is Faro Roche. Oh. Anyway, forgive me for that. But there we are.

Pharaoh Roche is another... That's another one. I can picture the advertisement, though, of the person coming in holding the pyramid of chocolates. Yeah. Oh, I just remembered the flake ads as well.

Do you remember the flake ads with the girl in field of poppies and she's got an old-fashioned bite with a basket and she looks like she is in absolute heaven pretty much having an orgasm essentially through chocolate you see i have to wait for you to say things now that i would no longer dare say but you're right sex sells let's go through the list actually actually what works. Sex clearly sells. I mean, the put a tiger in your tank from Exxon, was there a kind of sexual element, do you think, to that? Or not? Maybe not. No, actually, I don't remember it well enough. I do remember the Diet Coke man, which kind of flipped, you know, turned the tables from all these kind of exotically dressed women selling stuff. And this time it was very buff men and sort of women being quite voyeuristic and watching them

down a can of Coke. So that kind of flipped things a little bit. But obviously, as you say, times are changing now. We're much more wholesome now, aren't we? I mean, you think of the anticipation every Christmas of the John Lewis Christmas ad and other supermarkets obviously joining in, but those are little, very creative films in themselves. And, you know, the pressure on them, I guess, to sort of outdo themselves every single year must be immense. And what they're trying to do there is be cosy, sentimental, nostalgic, as you say, wholesome. So it's interesting's interesting sex sells but wholesome sells as well yeah probably more now i would say um i think we've come a long way from the from the flake ads now but yeah it is interesting i mean we're going back to the memorable characters which i think is

a really key and very successful way of creating a memorable ad. Do you remember the, well, he's still around, Alexander the Meerkat, comparethemerkat.com. Now, you see, I have no idea what comparethemerkat.com product is. I have no idea at all. But Alexander the Meerkat, I adore. Yeah. And in fact, when with TV programmes, we watch them, we usually watch them pre-recorded.

We fast forward through the ads until we see the meerkat, in which case my wife says, stop! And we have to watch the meerkat. We have fallen in love with the characters. We absolutely do. And I'm going to tell you about how that ad has actually had an impact on the English language. But speaking of ads, should we stop for one? Wherever you're going, you better believe American Express will be right there with you. Heading for adventure? We'll help you breeze through security. Meeting friends a world away? You can use your travel credit. Squeezing every drop out of the last day? How about a 4 p.m. late checkout?

Just need a nice place to settle in? Enjoy a room upgrade. 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. Xtree Xtree, your favorite anime is getting a new season. Hi, I'm Nick Friedman. And I'm Lee Alec Murray.

And I'm Leah President. Every week, you can listen in while we break down the latest pop culture news and dish on what new releases we can't get enough of. We're covering the latest in film, video games, music, manga, and obviously anime. Get the latest on the anime effect. So join us every Friday wherever you get your podcasts. And watch full video episodes on Crunchyroll or the Crunchyroll YouTube channel. So Giles, comparethemarecat.com, you say you love the ads. Can you remember the single word that actually then was suddenly on everyone's lips? It became a kind of staple of slang as a result of those ads. Give me a clue. It's the kind of the sign off. Simples. Simples. Simples. Indeed. Simples. Simples. Suddenly everywhere in teen slang, all because of the impact of the sign of... Simples. Simples. Simples, exactly. Simples, indeed. Simples.

Simples. We're suddenly everywhere in teen slang, all because of the impact of the ad. Oh, it's amazing. It is amazing, isn't it? And I know him because he's a DJ. The man in the Go Compare opera singer. He's actually an opera singer. He's also a Welsh DJ. And I've met him.

He's a delightful fellow. But that obviously is hugely successful. I mean, the ads to me seem totally inane, even though I know and like the fellow. So there's no accounting for what works. But again, I think that's the success. I think it's taking the mickey out of itself. And I think that that is really successful. Don't take yourself too seriously. Make people laugh by doing something really, as you say, inane, and it will stick in the memory. And another good way that we haven't really mentioned is, oh, I suppose simples comes into this category because it didn't exist before, but playing around with words, because I think if you have a linguistic impact,

then you also have quite an impact on people's memories. So one of the really clever political campaigns, if you remember, was the Saatchi and Saatchi 1978 ad that was aimed against Callaghan's government. And it was Labour isn't working, with a whole queue of unemployed, basically, which I think was incredibly effective. Do you remember that? Of course I remember it. You were probably in politics then, were you? I was. And indeed, at the time, I knew Maurice Saatchi at the time that they were working on that. And it was credited with really making the difference at the election.

I mean, ads would not go on. They would not be the multi-billion pound industry if they didn't work. But as an ad man once said to me, we don't know what will work and what won't work until we do it. But I can't see a tin, a can of baked beans without thinking beans means heints. Very clever. More wordplay. Actually, while we're on these slogans, I'm going to test you on some. And I'm going to just leave a gap for the product. I think you'll know quite a lot of them, actually. A day helps you work, rest and play. A day and i believed it and i think now they have to change the ad because it's not technically 100 correct because you know but they were only

advocating one i used to love that i know i've never had a deep fried mars bar no i've never never gone for that um i have had this product however um. You'll know this one as well. One of the most successful ones. Goes right back to the 1930s. We are the happy girls and boys. I was going to say, we are the Ovaltines. Exactly. Ovaltine, the warm malt drink.

It's before my time, but it was big in the 1930s and 1940s, wasn't it? And there, it was the melody that made it successful. Absolutely. Here's one that you won't know because it's way before your time. The slogan was simply, even your closest friends won't tell you. Oh, it's a deodorant one. It's not, but you're close. Oh, bad breath.

Yeah, Listerine. It's for bad breath. Listerine. Things that are before my time are the things I do know. Things that are of my time, I know nothing about at all. Okay. Do you want some more? Yeah, please. I'm loving it. Okay. it's the real thing coke coca-cola yes you've got to get the authentic

don't don't it's the real thing oh uh yep uh-uh refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach i was going to say opal fruits again uh-uh heineken heineken shows you how effective these things are i want to explain to our listeners that we've not cheated I did not know that these were going to be thrown our way

and are you remembering them too I wonder if you're listening anyway go on so we also have um hello Tosh got a

hello Tosh got a don't know that at all got a hello Tosh got a Toshiba do you remember that one hello Tosh

got a Toshiba no no you don't remember that okay don't remember that one this one you'll definitely know vorsprung durch technik ah yes is that for you see i'm not sure i think it's for bmw no audi but there you are in your car but how interesting i think what happened to me is i fall in love with the advertisement and it's working subliminally. I mean, I mentioned Beans Beans Heinz.

The point is, I go into the supermarket and I see two cans of beans. And the Heinz ones are more expensive. The ones next door are probably made by Heinz, but put in a different can. But I still go for the more expensive one because I recognise the label. It's very bizarre the way it works, isn't it? Also, I have to say, full disclosure here, I have the most brilliant friend in advertising, Peter Souter, who used to run one of the big ad agencies. And he was involved with possibly my all-time favourite campaign because it was just so clever. And that

was The Economist. Those bright red billboards with a single white strap line on them. One of their best was free enterprise with every issue. But they were just so, so clever in many ways. Well, that's part of it, isn't it? Yeah. I mean, the ad man that I used to talk to a lot, he used to say that one of the keys of a good advertisement is to be disruptive, so that it slightly throws you. It's not just, I mean, obviously there are tricks

that we can talk about using a few words, being personal, intimate, you know. Do you remember the famous Lord Kitchener poster? Your country needs you, involving you, having a catchy jingle, creating these memorable characters, playing with words. But at the same time, there must be something

that hooks you and keeps you there. Give me one more. And then I want to ask about the TV series, Mad Men. Well, one of the ones that, just to touch on language again, because obviously that's what we're all about. If a slogan passes into general use, that's surely the ultimate goal of the advertiser. So one wood preservative manufacturer, and you'll probably remember,

has seen it does exactly what it says on the tin, and to, as a kind of kind of you know a sort of general idiom in english do you remember the brand now i would have thought that the phrase was picked up by the manufacturer rather than the other way around but you're telling me the manufacturer came up with a slogan and now we all use it yeah i'm pretty sure and that was ron seal also vavavum vavavum we've got plenty of Vavavum. I love the phrase. Know the brand? No.

Renault. Renault. As I say, I think language is so key because you've only got, as you've said, in a very short amount of time, or if it's a print ad, obviously, you've just got a few seconds for people to read it. There was also Five O'Clock Shadow. That's another one. Five O'Cclock shadow is a

really really old ad for gem blades in america and it says goodbye five o'clock shadow it's actually around that time it is quite extraordinary you would find ads positively recommending the health benefits of cigarettes and that kind of thing you know if you have a cough smoker i can't remember what it was, not a cough in a carload with something for old gold cigarettes, I think. I'd walk a mile for a camel. You're never alone with a strand.

Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet. Remember that one? I do remember. I mean, I can hear the music as well. Winston tastes good like a cigarette should. And people used to lend their names to cigarette companies. The actor Gerald du Maurier, they were du Maurier cigarettes. The actor Laurence Olivier, they were Olivier cigarettes.

And these are things that actually kill people. I know, it's extraordinary. Here we go. For your throat's sake, smoke Craven A's for Craven A cigarettes. My father smoked Craven A and loved them. Red boxes with a black cat. Oh, he loved them. They smoked Cravenay and loved them. Red boxes with a black cat. Oh, he loved them. They killed him, but he loved them.

Now, these ads that you're talking about of the smoking variety featured very much in an extraordinary TV series called Mad Men, which was set in the 1950s, 1960s. Everybody smoked in it, and I found it completely gripping. But I wondered about some of the phrases in there that maybe you can unwrap for me, even if you didn't see the series. Why were they called Mad Men? Do you know? I think, I haven't seen this yet, so I'm looking forward to it. But I think that actually it was to do with the fact that they were on Madison Avenue.

So they were the men on Madison Avenue. I think that was the idea. And of course, then it absolutely suited the, by the sounds of it, suited the plot line. But it does sound brilliant. I know I've missed a trip by not watching it. And Madison Avenue in New York, New York, is like Fleet Street was in London.

Fleet Street was the street of newspapers. Madison Avenue was the street of advertising people. This is reminding me how very parochial we are being with all these ads. Purple people around the world, send us the slogans that you think have been the most effective and maybe tell us why, particularly ones involving words and language, you think they've worked effectively. It isn't always words that does it. I think of the lovely Hovis ads. It's entirely the music and the picture of the boy climbing the hill that made those ads work. Oh yeah, there's a nostalgia there, absolutely.

Back to Mad Men, lots of talk of copy and copywriters. Where does that come from? Yes, advertising copy, I mean, it literally is just sort of for text. I mean, you're right to mention the kind of tribal jargon of advertising. We haven't actually also mentioned advert itself, which comes from the Latin ad meaning towards and veteri to turn because an advert makes you turn your attention towards it. Or as one Canadian humorist puts it, advertising may be the science of arresting human intelligence long enough to get money from it. But back to the tribal language, I mean, the kind of account men and women are called suits or sometimes bag carriers. Their awards are pencils. An award if you win a prize?

If you get an award, you've got a pencil. You have subliminal advertising. Obviously, that's the kind that consumer doesn't even know they're absorbing. So that's product placement. But it's also, I think, as good as, you know, the smell of fresh bread when you enter a supermarket, which takes you straight to the bread aisle or the little baskets at the front, which have got freshly baked hot cross buns on them. You have a bastard, which is an awkward print ad size, or it could alternatively be a client, possibly. Oh, you mean, yes, you open the newspaper and the advertisement is a funny shape. It goes across two pages.

Is that what a bastard is? So it's quite difficult to design. That's why it's called a bastard. Yeah, absolutely right. Where does the word slogan, where does that come from? Yeah, slogan is a really interesting one. It's very, very old. So it actually, you don't know how it began?

No. No, it actually was a slughorn, believe it or not. And it was a war cry. If you look back to, say, the Battle of Flodden, where the English army defeated the invading Scots army. So that was King James IV. They had a slughorn. It's a Gaelic word meaning the cry of the host.

So it was a war cry used by Scottish Highlanders and borderers in their battles against the English. So it was very much part of the kind of skirmish. And the slogan cry eventually left its roots, but it kept that sort of sense of the distinctive note phrase or cry of a certain body of people. And then, of course, of the distinctive note of a brand. So it's come such a long way.

But it's still, I can see why it's called a slogan. It's brilliant. Give me any more from the lingo of the admin. You have Greek, which is fake copy used just to show, you know, the space that the real copy will occupy. As in it's all Greek to me. I mean, it's just, yeah. Yes, that goes back to Shakespeare, that one. You have a tissue. I mean, it's just, yeah. Yes, that goes back to Shakespeare, that one. You have a tissue. Now, a tissue meeting is an early one with a potential client at which you kind of float ideas,

but they might be instantly disposable. You might just say, yeah, yeah, great idea, but that's not going to work. Then you have the brief, obviously, which is the document from the client explaining what's required. I mean, you and I have had briefs in our time. They're usually anything but brief. Have you made any ads yourself for TV ads?

Very weirdly, I remember telling this story on 8 Out of 10 Cats. I was asked when I lived in Germany to provide a word for a German ad, a chocolate ad. And I thought, well, obviously I'm going to be saying something British, which is, you know, going to be sophisticated and add a bit of exoticism. Do you know what I had to say? Tell me. Mmm. It wasn't even, they didn't need an English speaker to do that.

It was just mmm. That was it. But I think the way you're doing it in English does sound quite English. Mmm. Do you? I don't know what the German equivalent of mmm would be. Anyway, it's probably time that we got to our lovely emails from the purple people. Well, look, before we do, purple people,

if you know about advertising in your part of the world, do please feel free to share your favourite advertising slogans with us and we can then chat about those. Who's been in touch with us this week? Yes, we have had an email from Marius in Germany. Now, Marius has a surname, which is going to make me sound very drunk when I try to pronounce it. I'm going to give it a go. Mischischinsky. Sorry, Marius, I probably completely mangled that. But anyway, they have asked about apparent connection in different languages between the number eight and the word

night, because obviously eight and night share the same letters apart from the first and what Marius has noticed and many others have before is that it's the same in different languages so acht in German is nacht then you have oui for eight in French and then nuit you have ocho and noche you have otto and notte and so it goes on that's amazing it's quite amazing so eight in english is gives you the word night acht is eight in german at an n it becomes nacht which means night rite h-u-i-t in french take off the h replace it with n becomes nuit is not this is completely extraordinary otto what language is that? Otto and Notte, that's Italian.

Oh, extraordinary. Now, what's the reason for this? Yes, well, do you know what? It is entirely, well, I say entirely coincidence. It's a coincidence in that they weren't intended to have a link, but they go back to very ancient and very similar roots in what's called Proto-Indo-European, which is a kind of reconstructed language that was the sort of progenitor, if you like, of many, many of the modern languages we have today. But because they were very similar roots,

they actually then progressed in sound in kind of parallel lines because sound patterns tend to sort of follow the same, they evolve in the same way throughout the languages. So these sounds remained very, very close together all the way through, which is why there is this sound similarity. But as far as we can tell, it is a complete coincidence. That's extraordinary. I know, it is, isn't it? It's really interesting where it kind of makes you go, ooh. Thank you, Marius, for sharing that. Now, you found that surname a bit challenging. I find this surname full of nostalgia because I knew the great uncle of the person who's written to us. Susan Bramble has written to us from County Wicklow in Ireland. Hello, Giles and Susie.

My great uncle played the part of Steptoe Senior in the old TV show, Steptoe and Son. And when I was young, we watched it, vaguely mystified at the dialect they used, as we hadn't heard it before in Dublin. One word they used, which we still use, is clobber for clothes. Any idea where clobber came from? For our international listeners, Steptoe and Son was a brilliant television series written by a double act called Gorton and Simpson. They famously, in the 1950ss wrote for Tony Hancock. He didn't want them to write anymore, so they went on to write for Harry H. Corbett and Wilfred Bramble

this amazing series about a rag and bone man and his son called Steptoe and Son. Clobber. Where does Clobber come from? Well, I have to disappoint because the answer is we just don't know. It goes back to the late 19th century. We know it's not related to the clobber that, again, very British, means to hit someone hard. If you clobber someone over the head or you might defeat them completely by clobbering another football team. That dates from the Second World War and seems to have been RAF slang for striking a place hard in a bombing raid.

But again, we don't know where either of those come from. I mean, I would guess that there's something about the sort of sound symbolism for hitting someone if you clobber them, because you can make that sound quite funky. But I'm not sure about clobber for clothes. Maybe a Romany origin? Who knows? But I'm sorry to let Susan down. But, you know, the search will go on.

If you think you have a better answer, please get in touch. It's purple at something else.com. Now, Susie, I want three wonderful words for you this week. Somebody stopped me in the street. Now, we're allowed to be stopped in the street. They still kept their distance and said they love your words. And they quite like the Scrabble words I mentioned the other day. Did I have another one for them? And I did. I offered the word Caz, C-A-Z, which is short for casual. I don't know if it's allowed in your dictionary, but in the Scrabble world, we allow C-A-Z. It can be a very useful Scrabble word. You've got words with a deeper heritage. What are you going to offer us? Yes. Well, I just thought this one is quite appropriate for springtime.

And I might have mentioned it at the beginning of lockdown, when I felt that this is what we were all doing for ourselves, and that is nidificating. To nidificate is to make a nest, something that the birds are doing very much at the moment, but something that I felt we were all retreating into, as I say, last year. But it's a lovely word, nidificate. And the nid, N-I-D, is as in the French word for nest, isn't it? Exactly. Yep. All to the Latin nidus, it followed the same root, nidificate.

This one, I just think it's very useful, very pithy, and describes so many situations. You might say that our current exit out of lockdown you know it is contingent entirely on all of us obeying the rules and it is philly pendulous philly pendulous means hanging by a thread oh i like it philly pendulous you might say again you know the outcome of a football match in extra time is philly pendulous. And finally, a word that I absolutely love the sound of, and it means to melt away or gradually dissolve. So your fears might hopefully eventually do this, and that is deliques.

Deliques, which I think is beautiful. Have you got a poem for us? I've got a poem for us. And if you're listening to this for the first time, it'll be around the 14th of April. If you're listening to us in the future, well, we were recording this around the 14th of April. And the 14th of April is the Feast of St. Bertius, T-I-B-U-R-T-I-U-S, who is the patron saint of cuckoos.

The 14th of April is known as Cuckoo Day. And you were mentioning spring being in the air, and that word including nid, what's that again? Say it, nid, nid. Nidificate. Nidificate, nidificate. So inspired by that, here's a poem by W.H. Davies, who is an extraordinary writer and lived for many years as a homeless person.

And here he is celebrating the unique call that gives the cuckoo its name. The woods and banks of England now, late coppered with dead leaves and old, have made the early violets grow and bulge with knots of primrose gold. Hear how the blackbird flutes away, whose music scorns to sleep at night. Hear how the cuckoo shouts all day for echoes to the world's delight. Hello, you imp of wonder, you. Where are you now, cuckoo? Cuckoo. Oh, that's beautiful. That is lovely. Well, I think that that is our lot we are really grateful for all

the reviews that you leave us and also the emails of course um and we read every single one so thank you for those if you would like to get in touch you can email purple at something else dot com and something rhymes with purple is of course there's something else production it was produced by lawrence bassett with additional production from har Wells, Steve Ackerman, Ella McLeod, Jay Beale. And the person that, well, those who very kindly attended our live show recently finally got to see in all his glory. Golly. Cuckoo.