Something Rhymes with Purple - Undercrackers

Episode Date: February 7, 2023

We are diving beneath the surface today as we undress all the words related to your Undergarments at our live show at the Fortune Theatre.  Come learn how your undergarments are linked to garnish, why the bra used to be exclusively worn by men, what your stockings have in common with a murderous medieval contraption and which style of underwear is connected to the violin.  Susie will keep us in suspense whilst she divulges the origin of suspenders and Gyles shares his affinity for chest wigs in his younger days.. We love hearing from you, find us @SomethingRhymes on Twitter and Facebook, @SomethingRhymesWith on Instagram or you can email us here: [e-mail] We currently have 20% off at the SRwP official merchandise store, just head to: https://kontraband.shop/collections/something-rhymes-with-purple 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 Don’t forget that you can join us in person at our upcoming tour, tap the link to find tickets: www.somethingrhymeswithpurple.com  Enjoy Susie’s Trio for the week:  Quockerwodger: A windsock or political puppet. Purfled: Short of breath, especially when too lusty. Puckfyst: Thirsty. The puckfyst is a `dried toadstool. Hence, "I feels puckfyst" means I feel as dry as a dried toadstool. Gyles' poem this week was 'Macavity: The Mystery Cat' by 'T. S. Eliot' Macavity’s a Mystery Cat: he’s called the Hidden Paw— For he’s the master criminal who can defy the Law. He’s the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad’s despair: For when they reach the scene of crime—Macavity’s not there! Macavity, Macavity, there’s no one like Macavity, He’s broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity. His powers of levitation would make a fakir stare, And when you reach the scene of crime—Macavity’s not there! You may seek him in the basement, you may look up in the air— But I tell you once and once again, Macavity’s not there! Macavity’s a ginger cat, he’s very tall and thin; You would know him if you saw him, for his eyes are sunken in. His brow is deeply lined with thought, his head is highly domed; His coat is dusty from neglect, his whiskers are uncombed. He sways his head from side to side, with movements like a snake; And when you think he’s half asleep, he’s always wide awake. Macavity, Macavity, there’s no one like Macavity, For he’s a fiend in feline shape, a monster of depravity. You may meet him in a by-street, you may see him in the square— But when a crime’s discovered, then Macavity’s not there! He’s outwardly respectable. (They say he cheats at cards.) And his footprints are not found in any file of Scotland Yard’s. And when the larder’s looted, or the jewel-case is rifled, Or when the milk is missing, or another Peke’s been stifled, Or the greenhouse glass is broken, and the trellis past repair— Ay, there’s the wonder of the thing! Macavity’s not there! And when the Foreign Office find a Treaty’s gone astray, Or the Admiralty lose some plans and drawings by the way, There may be a scrap of paper in the hall or on the stair— But it’s useless to investigate—Macavity’s not there! And when the loss has been disclosed, the Secret Service say: ‘It must have been Macavity!’—but he’s a mile away. You’ll be sure to find him resting, or a-licking of his thumbs; Or engaged in doing complicated long division sums. Macavity, Macavity, there’s no one like Mac& Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Something else. Welcome to Something Rhymes with Purple. If you're listening to this at home, on a run, or while you're commuting to work, that's because you're not here in the Fortune Theatre in the West End of London, where Susie Dent and I have gathered for one of our live podcasts. If you're new to this podcast, essentially it's a celebration of language. And Susie is here, the world's leading etymologist, to tell us all about language. I am here trying because my

wife sends me messages throughout saying for goodness sake shut up. You know people tune in because they want to know about the words. You know nothing, Susie knows everything and you have told that story three times before. Okay so I will try to be disciplined but we're thrilled to have you here. This comes from the Fortune Theatre, which is in Covent Garden, and we've got a lovely live audience, and we are live. And Susie, what are we going to talk about today? Well, we are going to talk about an essential item during these winter months, and before we actually hit the recall button,

we were talking about this with the audience, because I came on wearing a very thick coat, because the big freeze has descended, hasn't it? And so we're actually going to talk about what we wear under our garments. And we're going to talk about undercrackers, chuddies, underfugs. Undercrackers, chubbies, underfugs?

Chuddies. Chuddies? Yes, as in kiss my chuddies. You're going to explain all these words in a moment, aren't you? I will, I will, I will. But what are you wearing underneath your suit if I may be so bold? You may be so bold. I am wearing my thermals.

I'm standing up now. I'm going to roll up my... This is not because I'm a freemason. It's because... Oh! Oh, you really are. They've gone sort of grey in the wash. Is it a onesie?

No, it isn't. Ah, dearie me. No, I've got... And on top, I've got... Look, I'm just undoing my shirt here. I've got a separate thermal underneath, you see? Please may I see? Yeah.

Very cool. When I was young, there was a vogue for chest wigs. Because men felt inadequate if they didn't have a good sort of chest of hair. And you could get a chest wig, it was really from a sort of makeup shop, I forget where it was. It was somewhere in Covent Garden. And the one I bought, it had matching underarm toupees. You actually bought one? Yes, because when I was a boy, when I was young, when I was a teenager,

I had no hair on my chest. Did it come with a merkin? But I went... What? Did it come with a merkin? Did it come with a merkin? I just... Remind the... Underarm hair.

Remind... You're going to ask me where merkin comes from. I want to... I have no idea. I'm going to ask you, I do know, but what is a merkin? Well, I know what one is. No, but maybe some of our listeners don't. Okay, well... Give me the dictionary definition. That's what I'm going to ask you, I do know, but what is a merkin? Well, I know what one is. No, but maybe some of our listeners don't. Okay, well...

Give me the dictionary definition. That's what I'm going to do. It may be more wholesome speaking it that way. I was going to say hide behind your merkin, but I know what you mean. Hide behind your dictionary. Tell us. A pubic wig and probably originally a variant of malkin or a parallel pet form of the female forename Mary.

Why would you want to have a little Mary down there? Anyway. Moving swiftly on. Moving swiftly on. So you're going to explain all these words to us. All right. Yes, well, I've got some fantastic underwear facts for you. Good, share.

So first of all, undergarment, the garment bit is from French, as our words so often are, from garnir, meaning to equip or fit. That's where we get garnish from as well. But obviously our underwear, a lot more than garnish, pretty essential. So the word garment has been around

for how many years in this country? Well, if it goes back to the Romans, I suspect it probably came into English after the Normans came in because they bought the French, the old French was garmement, I think, and then that went back to the Latin. So usually after the 11th century. So garment is a piece of clothing, an adornment.

Any kind of clothing. It could be anything. And undergarment suggests it's something that goes under your outer garments. Like your thermals. Exactly. So shall I give you a few little facts? Now some of these come from a brilliant book my friend greg jenner for anybody who knows greg he's a historian and he wrote an excellent book called a million years in one day and he looks at the history of toothbrushing he looks at history of loos of wigs it's absolutely fascinating anyway there is a little bit on undergarments i'm going to give you a few little facts okay a gentleman medieval Europe would often forego pants altogether, and he'd simply tuck his dangly bits under his shirt or his chemise.

The... Nothing from there. Okay. No, I'm listening. I was going to say I'm trying to visualize it, but I don't need to do that. I'm picturing it. Yes? You're picturing it? Okay. When Elizabeth I discovered silk stockings, as opposed to the cloth kind, she bought piles of them, and she wore each for only one week, and then she donated them to a lady-in-waiting. That's good.

That's quite nice, isn't it? So, corsets were once worn by men. Once worn by men. A lot of men wear corsets still. Do they? Oh, yes. Theat Do they? Oh, yes. Theatrical types. Oh, yes.

Do they? To come on looking pulled up. Oh, yeah. Oh, okay. Oh, yeah. Or things like spanks. Are they called spanks? Oh, yes.

Men wear spanks. Oh, do they wear spanks? Okay. Absolutely. Of course they do. Oh, interesting. Well, corset comes from the French corps, meaning body. So it fits around your body.

But they also were the first to wear bras. Because brassiere goes back to the French for arm, and it was originally part of body armour for the arm. And then quite a journey to get... So when you're putting on your armour, you say, fix my brassiere, meaning, was it made of brass? Is that what it was? No, it was bras.

Bras, as in bras? Yeah. The French for arm. Yeah, this is a long, long time ago, and only for a short period of time, and then it became firmly affixed to women's arm. Are we, I mean, we may be coming back to this, but since you raised it now, how is that journey, if brassiere, if the word bras, the English word bras,

is also, people say brassiere, it's from the French, is it? Brassiere, no? Brassiere, yes. That is connected with arms. How does it actually cover the breast? Well, I think it then moved to mean the breastplate of a body of armour and then eventually to anything that supported you.

So we go from brassiere on the arm to breastplate, to breast supporter. Yeah. Fine. Is this the moment to give us lots of alternatives for bras? Lots of alternatives? Or alternative words? Or other words. I don't know if there are any other words for bras, really. Oh, yes, there are.

There's slang expressions. Okay, tell me some. Well, I was always told that the bra was invented by a German garment maker called Hans Titzlinger. No. I'm sorry. At school I believed that. Absolutely believed it. Surely not. called Hans Titzlinger. No. I'm sorry, at school I believed that, absolutely believed it.

Surely not. Yes, I was going to do some research on this subject. But I just thought, my wife said to me, what are you looking up? And I thought, no, you're right, you're right. I don't want to have any of this in my Googling. No, for 1911 is the first mention in a canadian newspaper of brassiers of fine cam brick lace and embroidery trimmed and then in 1912 and it was a magazine called the queen yeah uh the stylish figure of today requires a brassiere yes because i think up until then people didn't wear bras, did they?

No, I think... It's a 20th century invention. Clearly, yeah. And then became popular because... I think there were other ways in which you would be supported, yeah, including the corset. So I'm just looking for bra. Yeah, and then...

The first match is 1936. Oh, sorry? Yeah. As recent as that? Yeah. Okay, so you've given us, as it were, the bra. You mentioned earlier, I almost threw it away, pants. Yes.

Which I think in American are trousers. They are. But pants, to a British audience, are underwear, underpants. Yes. Why are they called pants? Because that's pants, isn't it? Yes. So it's very different. Because that's pants, isn't it? Yes. So it's very different.

So these are short for pantaloons. And do you know the origin of pantaloons? A character from the Commedia dell'arte? Exactly. Tell us more. So this is the stock sort of farce, the farcical tradition of Italian theatre, where you would get particular figures

who would be there all the time. Columbine. Yep, Harlequin. Harlequin, Pantaloon. Pantaloon. Was he the comic old gentleman? He was an old gentleman who was always getting into little scrapes, I think. And he wore incredibly garish trousers,

and we think it's from here that pantaloons were named after him. And then, of course, they were shortened, but it explains why in American English they still mean trousers. Well, also in French, pantalon does mean trouser, doesn't it? It does. Pantalon, French pants in America are trousers. They're here, they are the undergarments. And there are lots of euphemisms for them, aren't there?

I mean, that's some of the ones you mentioned earlier. Yes, I think underfugs is probably the worst. Underfugs. Fugs. Yes, it just sort of implies that it's all fuggy down there. It is, isn't it? We haven't mentioned the various euphemisms for trousers, even.

So in Victorian times, one of the big taboos was saying the word trousers because it was considered to be very rude because they housed the unthinkable, let alone the underwear. Can I ask you something? Yes.

Do you think this is true? Yes. Are you sure it's not a kind ask you something? Yes. Do you think this is true? Yes. Are you sure it's not a kind of Victorian joke? Yes. So I think a lot of these were used humorously, for sure. But I mean, we often hear about doilies around piano legs and things. I don't think that is true. Ah, I see, yes. Because the line that is taken often is that people were so embarrassed in Victorian times about these inexpressible, literally inexpressible parts of the body that people would cover up their piano legs

because you shouldn't be allowed to see them. I think that sounds ridiculous. It does sound ridiculous. I can't believe they were that ridiculous. But the asking for chicken breast story that I told you about from Churchill, I think that is true and that chicken breast was considered too rude.

Well, the word breast was... I mean, I remember that with my father. We used to have a lovely lady called Miss Lynch who came to spend Christmas with us when I was a boy. Very lovely lady. She was the mother of a girl who'd been to school with my mother, so she was my grandmother's age.

And my father teased her by carving the breast and saying, some breast, oh no, I'm so sorry, Miss Lynch, white meat for you. Exactly, exactly. And it was considered quite naughty. I think it was considered quite naughty, and white meat was exactly what you needed to say. Anyway, if you look at the historical thesaurus,

you will find trousers called unmentionables, indescribables round me houses round me houses like that one and sit-upons sit-upons good where are my what are undercrackers undercrackers are likewise their trousers underwear oh they're underwear it's men's underwear particularly and there was a couple more you mentioned right at the beginning under fuddies no what was that chuddies chuddies chuddies i think is hindi so kiss my chuddies? No, what was that? Chuddies. Chuddies? Chuddies, I think, is Hindi. So, Kiss My Chuddies. Didn't that come from Goodness Gracious Me? Yes. Which was the fantastic

comedy. With Peter Sellers? Do you remember this? No. No. There's a song in a film with Sophie Loren, which she sang Goodness Gracious Me. You mean the television series? I do mean the TV series. Yes, my references go back rather further.

I like to take the long view, but yes. Yes. One other little tidbit from Greg's book is that apparently when Tutankhamen's tomb was opened, they found about 180 pairs of underpants which were essentially knickers,

nappies, that were fastened at the side. They looked a bit like nappies nappy is obviously from napkin yes you mentioned knickers and i'm going to say they're from not the ice cream the knickerbocker glory they're from knickerbockers which were trousers so you have to go back to washington irving's new york story in which he basically had a hero called Dietrich Knickerbocker, a Dutch hero who wore these particular Dutch style breeches. And Knickerbockers were named after this. It was a satirical novel. So Washington Irving's writing when? About 1900? Washington Irving was 1809, I think. Yeah. So a little bit earlier than that. And I think it was called The History of New York.

Anyway, lots of illustrations in there of these short breeches. And Knickerbocker, eventually named after that character, Dietrich Knickerbocker, such a good name. And we get knickers from there, including Bridget Jones's big knickers, famously. So knickers, because now you associate knickers with underwear worn by females, don't you? Yes, but knickerbockers were worn by men as sportswear, for example.

Yeah, exactly. I'm thinking. Bloomers, we know, because I'm sure we've talked about it before, is an eponym named after Amelia Bloomer. Yes. Who pioneered them. Amelia Jenkins Bloomer. She was sick of basically women being expected to ride bikes with their long skirts.

And, of course, you couldn't particularly go side saddle as you could on a horse on a bike. So she liked to wear, she didn't invent them, but these sort of big, they were a bit like pantaloons, actually, which would enable people, women, to cycle. There was a big movement in Victorian times for dress reform among women. And I only know a bit about it

because of having written a lot about Oscar Wilde. And his wife Constance was a champion of female clothes reform. Because the clothes were considered uncomfortable, restrictive underneath, and dangerous overall. Because there were cases, in fact I think two of, well one of Oscar Wilde's half-sisters, maybe, or relatives, anyway, aunts, died because people wore these huge skirts and they caught fire. There were a number of cases of women being literally burnt to death because of the frocks they were wearing. And so in late Victorian times,

there was a whole movement to change this. And I imagine your bra is part and parcel of that as it comes along. And also the whole thing of having to ride side saddle, because it was considered more decorous for a lady to ride side saddle. Therefore, they had to construct things that made it possible. Magnus, really. But then fast forward to World War II, and women on low incomes would hand-knit their knickers.

They'd make them out of flour. And then for a while, apparently, you might remember this, in the 60s, apparently there was a craze for paper throwaway knickers. Yes, and they were most unsatisfactory. OK. No, you could even go to WH Smith and get paper knickers. And I did get them because you thought, well... Oh, for men as well?

Oh, yes. Oh, OK. Because they were disposable. That was the idea. And in the 70s in California, they were the incredible edible candy pants. Oh, please. I know. Sorry. Good enough to eat, that's the idea and in the 70s in california there was they were the incredible edible candy pants oh please i know sorry good enough to eat licorice licorice that is no turn on is it licorice flavored underpants so pants we've done we've done bloomers we've done knickers have we done drawers uh no we haven't done drawers actually and that's because you draw them over your feet

and draw them up, I think is the idea. So you sort of draw them together. I mean, we talked about the corsets. I mean, actually, those were once fastened or pulled so tight, weren't they, that women actually fainted. Oh, yeah. And then the waspies were,

to accentuate a slender waist on the women, they would be drawn so tight that you looked a bit like a wasp. Horrendous. And that's where we get straight laced from if someone is so pulled tight that they're slightly rigid in their outlook good well i mean i need possibly straight laced to improve my posture me too me too what about the g-string have a woman of those i'm rather excited by this picture you have of me. Throwing off my merkin and getting into my G-string. Yes.

Indeed. In search of my G-spot. Let's not go... Well, we can go there, possibly. What is the origin of a G... What is a G-string? It's a little... I think what they call a cash sex, isn't it?

Oh, what's it? A cash sex. Oh, okay. You're not familiar with that expression? No, I've not really looked for one in France. Excuse me. Who here is familiar with the cash sex? Oh, okay. You're not familiar with that expression? No, I've not really looked for one in France. Excuse me, who here is familiar with the gush sex? Nobody.

A gush sex is, well, to hide your sex. Yes. So it was like a g-string or a jockstrap. Maybe it's a jockstrap. A jockstrap is short for jockey strap and was originally worn as, I'm not quite sure why they were worn by jockeys, but they were worn in sports, essentially.

Yeah. To protect your private parts. Yes. Because if you go to... We were talking about armour earlier, and the brassiere being part of a suit of armour. Yes, of course. If you go to the Wallace Collection in London,

they've got some marvellous suits of armour from 14th and 15th century. And there, the private parts of the people wearing them are protected with separate extra metal around their private parts. Like sort of cod pieces, proper... Like cod piece? Yeah.

Cod piece, what is the origin of a cod piece? So that is cod, C-O-D-D-E, used to be slang for testicles, along with nutmegs, hence why you nutmeg someone in football if you pass it between their legs. This is why they come. This is why they come. You did not know that. They nutmeg it in football.

It's absolutely grisly. Did you know that a bracket, actually, was originally a word for a codpiece? So when you put brackets in your text, you were actually looking back to the shape of a codpiece, slightly. I wish my friend Dame Hilda Brackett was still alive. She would be thrilled to know that actually her name was Hilda Codpiece. So go on.

So the codpiece takes us... A jockstrap is a kind of codpiece, but a g-string is like a piece of string that is there as a cash sex, worn by women rather than men, or possibly both, I don't know. Well, originally by men, and... Originally by men?

I think so, yes. Quite uncomfortable, it's just a piece of string, isn't it? I was actually just looking up G-spot while you were... Just in case you came to that. Shall I go there now? Finding it is always the problem. So, the G spot, the G is the initial letter of the

name of Ernst Greifenberg. He's related to Herbert Fitzlinger, I mentioned earlier. Say the name again. Ernst Greifenberg. I'm glad they didn't call it the Greifenberg spot. That would not have been good. Now, that's a sort of 1960s, 70s phenomenon, isn't it? 82. 82 yeah quite late. But the G string. Yes no one knows why it's called

the G string but some people think it's because it's as thin as the G string on a violin. Or maybe when you see somebody wearing it you go gee. I mean it American? Is it British? I think, actually. I may be wrong on this. I'm going to double-check, but I think it was borrowed by the American settlers from Native American indigenous peoples, I think. So let me just double-check that. So, actually, the first reference here is to music. So it is the G string on a violin.

Then, yes, a loincloth or breechcloth with the string supporting this, once worn by Native Americans. How interesting. It was known as a G string. 1878, and then 1936, a similar piece of material worn by showgirls, striptease artists, etc. Very good. So it's

a kind of loincloth. Very nice. Yeah, essentially. and a thong is a thong simply just a thong at twilight simply called because it is a narrow strip of leather which is what a thong is essentially so that's how it started so they were they were leather the first songs this is going to get you very excited isn't it no i'm i'm just sort of in your thermals yeah i'm i'm tucked into my thermals uh the song that's an aero strip of hide or leather is from the 10th century so it's mentioned in the lindisfarne gospels in that sense but not in the current sense obviously then a song uses the lash of a whip 1592 then we have the thongs that you have on your sandals from 1967 and then around that time also the underwear thongs but what was making me smile a little bit is that it all goes back to a very ancient word meaning to restrain and it

says compare the german singing which means to twing or twinge and that says compare the German Zwingen which means to twing or twinge and then it says compare the dialect form Wang. That was what was making me laugh, sorry. And that is also a strip of leather. She's easily pleased. I am, I am. We haven't talked about the vest have we? Because I remember at school

you had to wear a vest and pants. Yes. A vest is what? Vetement is clothing. Vetements, exactly, yeah. And that's exactly where it comes from. But in Italian a vest was a robe or a gown. So it's come down a little bit in the world to become the sort of underwear thermal type thing. Vests are underrated.

They are fantastic. You're a brilliant... No, we call them camisoles, don't we? Do we? Well, you are... Darling, fetch me my camisole. No, I've never called it... Yeah, you're not wearing a thermal camisole, but women often do wear camisoles. And what's the difference between a camisole and a vest? The camisole is, first of all, from the French chemise,

so it's a little chemise, a little shirt, so to speak. And a camisole is slightly flimsier and a bit more attractive than a thick vest. Let's wrap up the underwear before we take our break. Because I think clearly our audience here at the Fortune Theatre are itching to ask,

and they may be, if you're wearing woolsy. Talking of itchiness, do you remember I introduced you to the word shiviness? Tell me more. It is the discomfort of new underwear.

Ah. But actually, they must have been really uncomfortable because a shiv was a little piece of wheat or corn sticking into you. So it must have been made by... I love new underwear. I love the feeling of new underwear. Okay, well, I do too. Tell me about boxer shorts.

Where do they... Y-fronts, boxer shorts. Yes. Versions of male pants, I think they are, aren't they? Well, boxers because they're originally worn by boxers in the ring. Oh, so they look like boxer shorts. Yes. Versions of male pants, I think they are, aren't they? Well, boxers because they're originally worn by boxers in the ring. Oh, so they look like boxer shorts. Yes. That's why they're called boxer shorts.

Exactly, that's why they're called boxer shorts. And Y-fronts because they're... Y-front because they're slightly Y-shaped, aren't they? The front of them is. Yes. So that's, and they just become... And then, okay, I will tell you that 1953, it was a proprietary term for men's underwear.

They've got the Y-shaped seaming at the front, etc., etc. I sometimes, when I'm putting on my thermals, call them, I say, oh, I'm going to put on my long johns today. Why do I say long johns? Well, I think there, a john is used, we often talk in the podcast about how people's names, and when we had that with Merkin and Mary earlier, they are used generically to mean certain things.

The example I always give is Jack. You have a steeplejack, a lumberjack, jack of all trades. Meaning a bloke, a chap. Yeah, just a generic form. So Long John, I have no idea. Normally the dictionary does not tell you why John was chosen rather than Jim. I thought it might have had something to do with Long John Silver. And maybe he wore them. Normally the dictionary does not tell you why John was chosen rather than Jim. I thought it might have had something to do with Long John Silver.

And maybe he wore them. Well, you never know. These illustrations at the time. Perhaps after use of Long John as a type of name for a tall person, applied to various objects for their unusual length. So I think actually Long John originally was a tree, a very, very tall tree. And then Long John's obviously a very tall tree. So long john silver was probably a very tall character. Probably, yes.

In the novel. Yeah. Very good. Okay. What about this word skivvies? Is that a... Oh, in your skivvies. Yeah.

Yes. So I think the reference there is simply to if you are a skivvy, you will be wearing quite sort of functional clothing. And a skivvy originally was a female servant, as opposed to a male one. We don't know where skivvy comes from, though. But if you're in your skivvies, you are essentially wearing your functional stuff. I remember learning a tongue twister that began with, he went from the Indies to the Andes in his undies, which was quite fun. That's handy, I like that. What about scanties?

Scanties, they're very scanty. They're very small. Scant means, what does scant mean? Scant means insufficient. Fine. Yes, and negligee, do you remember where that comes from? No. Talking of insufficiency,

the idea was that if a woman wore a negligee, she was being slightly negligent because it wasn't quite covering up enough. Ooh. Well, all this we've been quite covering up enough. Ooh. Well, all this we've been discussing is lingerie. Yes. And where does lingerie come from?

It's from the same root as linen. And when we wash our dirty linen in public, we are really washing our dirty underwear in public because originally linen meant your undergarments. Oh. Well, we've learned a lot there, haven't we? We have. Yeah. We've certainly learnt a lot.

Before we go, if there's anything on the undergarment front that you want to shout out... Gusset. Gusset. Thank you. Oh, no. Gusset.

No. The word that was on the edge of all our lips that none of us could remember. Let's disappear down the gusset before we have our break. God. I hate it. Well, um... Sorry.

No, no, don't say... That's okay. This, you asked in a mission of wanting to know, so... Okay. So, originally, a gusset was also on a suit of armour, and it was the bit between the legs, essentially. And again, it sort of had a protective purpose. But we think, weirdly, it goes back to a french word for a bag of nuts what bag of nuts

yes yes so it was a kind of like a bag or a shell containing nuts so originally again so we're back to the testicles thing with the nutmegs i'm afraid we're back to the codpiece yes with all the different synonyms for testicles. I once designed a T-shirt for Balls to Cancer, which is a lovely charity aimed at raising awareness of testicular cancer. And honestly, the thesaurus of testicles is incredible. You've got your nerds, your Aunt Polly's, your jelly bags. There's a song in this, isn't there? Your nerds, your Aunt your armpits, go on.

Your jelly bags, I'll try to remember some more of them. Obviously, your nutmegs, your twiddle diddles is another one. Oh, I like that. Yeah, stop fiddling with your twiddle diddles. Yes. Very good. Oh, stockings. You remember where stockings come from?

No, where do stockings come from? Because originally, if you were in the stocks as punishment, you would be putting your arms and your legs through these holes. And the idea of stockings is that you would sort of, your legs were covered up. So in the stocks, your legs went through and therefore you covered them up. And what you wore were known as your stockings because you were in the stocks for it. Yes.

And guess who wore stockings originally? Tell me. Men. Well, of course? Yes. And guess who wore stockings originally? Tell me. Men. Well, of course. Yes. Well, given we mentioned stockings, let's, well, no, let's leave people in suspense. Okay.

And then come back to suspenders. And we can come back and talk about suspenders. Okay. Let's take a break. Thank you very much. See you down there. More in ten minutes. Woo! Woo!

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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.

We are going to give you extras because this is a birthday, a very special birthday. Ava has come all the way from Dublin to be with us. Where are you, Ava? I'm here. Ava, well done. Hey! We are now going to have the West End chorus singing Happy Birthday to Ava.

All right, on the count of three. One, two, three. Happy birthday to Ava. On the count of three. One, two, three. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Ava. Happy birthday to you. Thank you. We've been asked quite a few underwear questions.

We have. In the interval. Yes, give me one. So we were asked about briefs. Yes. And the answer is simply because they are brief. And this was an American who asked you this, wasn't it? We have an American person in the audience.

He was a lovely American. Hello. Thank you so much for coming. You came from Dublin. He came all the way. And we have Andrea from Australia australia andrew from australia thank you andrea so andrea from australia so briefs are curtailed and curtailed is also from the idea is having a short tail as a as of a shirt in fact do you remember in our textiles episode i

think we talked quite a lot about garments and how they have slipped into English invisibly. So if something is succinct, it looks back to a Roman toga that was so sort of billowing that they would often kind of hitch it up with the belt so they could walk without getting it dirty at the bottom. And so it goes back to the Latin succingere, meaning to be tucked under your belt. And that means if something is compact and tucked in,

it's succinct. Succinct. Yes. and as in suspender a you mentioned oh yes the suspenders um different different meanings in uh obviously britain and america um but suspenders are simply from the idea of um being sort of well hung or hitched up so in the cases of braces as we would call them in North America, or the suspenders that hold up the... So suspenders in the United States are braces over here. We would call them braces, yeah.

And suspenders... And braces is a sibling of brassiere. Same idea, being supported. And the suspenders you wear on your legs... They're attached to your... Yes. Interestingly, I think American suspenders on your legs are ones... You have suspenders that literally keep your socks up.

Oh, yes. Garters. They're called garters, are they? Yes. Are you sure? Yes. But also, aren't there suspenders that keep your socks up as well as...? I think there are. And then there are suspenders that are part of your lingerie. I think they are called garters in North America.

They're the same idea. I did a version of the Rocky Horror Show 20 years ago. You've come back, I know, hoping for more. And it was fun to do. It was quite exhilarating wearing the suspenders. You get a freedom. It's rather like appearing in a mask

or on stage. You get a freedom to do things that you wouldn't otherwise do normally. Now, when we do these live podcasts, it's slightly different. Normally, if you're a regular listener and listen up, because very soon we'll have our 200th episode, Susie every week comes up with a word, usually a pretty obscure word in my book,

that she loves and wants to share with us. The first word of today's trio i have mentioned quite a lot so i suspect that many of the purple people will already know what it means but they've come up nonetheless bless them with some alternative definitions okay so quokka wadja remember this one no what how do you spell it quokka wadja quokka wadja is q u o c k e r and then W-O-D-G-E-R. Quokka Wodger. Okay, so Michaela Youngson from Wembley says, a person who talks a lot about golf but never plays it. Oh, thank you.

Quokka Wodger Ian from Carrington says, it's the little weed that vibrates to make the sound in a duck call. Oh, I like that. And this, I know you're going to love this one. Michael from London says, a quokka wodger is an old rocker with a dodgy todger. So, you have to remember, try and remember these

because you have to choose your favourite out of all of them and we give the t-shirt. It's a t-shirt. We didn't discuss that amongst underwear, did we? I suppose it's not underwear. It's outerwear. It's shaped like a T. And it's just shaped like a T. Okay, go on.

Okay, so that's Quokka Wood. Then we have Purfulv. Purfulv. P-U-R-F-L-E-D. Cara from Torquay says, it's the description given to underwear that you've owned for so long, it lacks structural integrity.

That's very good. That's very good brilliant definition that one and tony from bromley says that perfiled is the past tense of perfil which is to sigh through one's teeth ah yes exactly that and jackie from Jackie from London says that Perfold is someone who runs from being cleansed by a vicar. As in Perfled? Oh yeah, I like it. Yes, okay. So that's Perfold. And then we have, I'll say this carefully, Puckfist.

Puckfist? Yes, only the fist is spelt F-Y-S-T. It's a real word. Yes. P-U-C-K-F-Y-S-T. Give us the definitions we've been given. Okay, so Andrea Clifford-Jones from Canberra in Australia says, my husband suffers from an affliction of saying really inappropriate things

at highly inappropriate times. Oh, a man after my own heart, well done. A pack fist is the super-sized leather boxing glove that I insert in his mouth during these moments, which buys us time to make our retreat and make it home before the lynch mob finds us. Oh, fine. That's excellent.

That's very good. And Ian from Caddington again says, A puck fist is the name of the ridiculous pouting face that young girls insist on using for every social media post. Very good. And Luke from London, I met Luke. Luke says, it's when Reverend Spooner gets trollied. I love that.

Not puck fist, but, you know. Oh, very good. Very good. Oh, that's so clever. So, are you going to remember these? I am remembering them, yeah. Okay, so you now have to choose the winner. From the Quokka Wodger.

I loved all three of those, but of course the one that stuck in my mind was the last one, which was a bit cheeky. Do we have one t-shirt? We have one t-shirt. We had three t-shirts. Oh, three. Well then, the last one. What was the last one? It was amusing. Michael says it's an old rocker with a dodgy toddy. I think that's so amusing.

Well done, Michael. Purples. Well, I have to say, the underwear that was brilliant. Lack structural integrity. Lack structural integrity. That was Cara. Well done, Cara. And puck fist. Well, I have to say,

in the interests of marital harmony in Australia, and also for ingenuity, there were so many good ones there. They were excellent. The Reverend Spooner joke was particularly clever, wasn't it? Yes, it was. And I was at New College, Oxford, where the Reverend Spooner was warden, and where the Spooner joke was particularly clever, wasn't it? Yes, it was. And I was at New College, Oxford, where the Reverend Spooner was warden

and where the Spoonerism originated. But I do... You have history or mystery lecture. I have, exactly. I'm going to go, though. With Andrea. With Andrea. With Andrea.

What reminds you of the definition again? My husband, her husband, he says very inappropriate things at inappropriate times. So a puck fist is a supersized leather boxing glove that she inserts in his mouth during those moments. So well done, Andrea. Fantastic. Now, we always finish with a lovely flourish from you, Giles,

and you give us a poem. Well, I'm going to read a bit of a poem today, not all of it. When we first came to the Fortune Theatre, and we will be back here, I think, in January and in February as well. When I first did it, I read a bit of one of Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, T.S. Eliot,

the wonderful 20th century poet, Thomas Stearns Eliot. But I was amused as a child to think that T.S. Eliot was an anagram of toilets. But that tells you more about me than it does about the great poet. And I think when we first came here, I read you a little bit of Gus the Theatre Cat. Yes. So I'm not going to do that.

I'm instead going to speak, read a bit of the poem, Macavity. Macavity is a mystery cat. He's called the Hidden Paw. For he's the master criminal who can defy the law. He is the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the flying squad's despair, for when they reach the scene of crime, Macavity's not there. Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like

Macavity. He's broken every human law. He breaks the law of gravity. His powers of levitation would make a fackier stare, and when you reach the scene of crime, Macavity's not there. You may seek him in the basement, you may look up in the air, but I tell you once and once again, Macavity's not there. Macavity's a ginger cat. He's very tall and thin. You'd know him if you saw him, for his eyes are sunken in. His brow is deeply lined with thought. His head is highly domed. His coat is dusty from neglect. His whiskers are uncombed. He sways his head from side to side with movements like a snake. And when you think he's half asleep, he's always wide awake. Macavity, Macavity. There's no one like Macavity, for he's a fiend in feline shape, a monster of depravity. You may meet him in a by

street, you may see him in the square, but when a crime's discovered, then Macavity's not there. Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity. There never was a cat of such deceitfulness and suavity. He always has an alibi and one or two to spare, at whatever time the deed took place, Macavity wasn't there. And they say that all the cats whose wicked deeds are widely known, I might mention Mungo Jerry, I might mention Griddlebone, are nothing more than agents for the cat who all the time just controls their operations, the Napoleon of crime.

APPLAUSE That is wonderful. And you mentioned that we clearly aren't massively prepared. I totally forgot to give you the real definitions. Oh, yes, you did. I did. And you mentioned that we clearly aren't massively prepared. I totally forgot to give you the real definitions for these words. Oh, yes, you did. I did. Yes, the fourth ones are very amusing. What were the three words?

What were the definitions? So, quokka-wodger, one of my favourite words. In Victorian times, a quokka-wodger was one of those puppets, the wooden puppets that just basically its limbs would jerk with a string. You can still buy them, like little marina. Yeah. And so quokka-wod just slipped into the political lexicon to mean someone whose strings are pulled by someone else.

A puppet politician, essentially. Purfold, possibly this is quite a good one for this particular episode. Purfold means short of breath, especially when too lusty. And puck fist means thirsty, because a puck fist was a dried toadstool. yn ystod pan oedd yn rhyfedd. Ac mae'n golygu'n ystod oed, oherwydd roedd ystod oed yn stŵl toad. Felly os yw'ch llyfn yn ddryd, rydych chi'n teimlo'n stŵl toad. Mae'n dda.

Ydych chi'n mynd allan o'r pwbl, pan oedd rhyfedd yn ystod oed, roedd rhyfedd yn ystod oed. Roedd rhyfedd fel Bob Hope neu George Burns ar y diwedd eu bywydau, a dweud wrthym, pan fydd pobl yn dweud y byddem ni'n mynd i fyny ac yn mynd i'r ysgol, old line it was somebody like bob hope or george burns towards the end of their life who said you know when people say uh shall we go upstairs and go to bed he would reply i can do one or the other perfect that's our lot for today isn't it listen to us every week we drop a new one every tuesday tune in apple podcast spotify stitcher amazon music wherever you get your podcast you'll find us

you will and something rhymes with purple is as always there's something else in sony music Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, wherever you get your podcasts, you'll find us. You will. And Something Rhymes with Purple is, as always, a Something Else and Sony Music Entertainment production. It was produced by Harriet Wells, who's here with us today, alongside Sam Hodges and Andrew Quick in the rings from Tilted for the live shows. Additional production from Chris Skinner, Jen Mystery, Teddy Riley and...

Well, he sounds like an undergarment himself, doesn't he? Gully. Yes. I've got lost in the gully. Where's your gusset? It's gully. Anyway, thank you very much for being with us. Thank you. Vielen Dank.