Something Rhymes with Purple - Whitehall 1212

Episode Date: November 24, 2020

This week, Susie and Gyles are reporting on the names and origins of London Town - of England, Europe, The World, The Universe. Come wind through the streets of Susie’s old hangout in Soho discovering its connection to battle cries and the history of germ theory, we’ll then take the Tube north to see how bishops and cottages birthed the names of some beautiful spots in North London. Gyles will then act as lead guide as he tours us through his past haunts in West London and South of the river where the lambs of Lambeth, the Warriors of Barnes and the chalk of Chelsea all are remembered to this day. This Black Friday (27th December) get 20% off Something Rhymes with Purple Merchandise. Go to purple.backstreetmerch.com and enter ‘Purple20’ at checkout. A Somethin’ Else production Susie and Gyles want to explore further afield, so send in your questions or discoveries of fascinating (and amusing) place names around the country and world for them to visit in their next episode on place names. You can get in touch at [e-mail] Susie’s Trio: Parvanimity - Being of an inferior or ignoble mind Sumph - a soft, stupid fellow Merry-go-down - a sip of strong ale. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up y'all it's your man Mark Strong Strizzy and your girl Jem the Jem of all Jems and we're hosting Olympic FOMO your essential recap podcast of the 2024 Olympic Games in 20 minutes or less every day we'll be going behind the scenes for all the wins

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skip to the good bit using the card member entrance. Let's go seize the night. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Visit amex.ca slash yamex. Benefits vary by card. Other conditions apply. Something Else. Hello, I'm Giles Brandreth, and I'm speaking to you from my home in London.

England. Europe. The world. The universe. That's how I used to write my address when I was a little boy. How about you, Susie Dent? You're in Oxford. When you were a little girl, what did you think of as your address? Oh, I think I was just very nerdy and just put everything down, including the postcode, which I can still remember today. But I remember the early days working on Countdown with the great late Richard Whiteley. And people would address letters to Richard, which would just say, Richard Whiteley leads the world, because he'd get quite a few little letters from kids he used to watch at tea time. So that always amazed me that the post office got it to him. And they always did. Whenever I speak to you, I'm reminded of how old I am,

because I was brought up before there were postcodes in that sense. I suppose I was living in southwest London or west London, but I didn't think of a postcode with lots of letters. Oh, really? How extraordinary. I wonder when they came in. I should know that. Well, I don't know. But obviously, since my childhood, which was in the 50s and 60s, and also in London, we had names for the telephone exchanges. So I lived in various areas, though I was in Fremantle for a while, Welbeck, Kensington. And I remember going for the first time to the West End and

finding there were people with telephones that began Piccadilly, PIC, Whitehall, WHI. Oh, that's quite cool. Whitehall 1212. Yeah. Oh, really? Is that a club? I thought it was Whitehall 1212. Wasn't that Scotland Yard? Maybe it was. Whitehall 1212. Oh, what? Is that a club? I thought it was Whitehall 1212. Wasn't that Scotland Yard? Maybe it was. Whitehall 1212. Oh, what fun! I think so. Did you ever do this when you were a girl? There was a telephone directory in London, a huge four volumes. Yes. I loved those four volumes, particularly after my father showed me how you could bake them, warm them in the oven. And after you'd warmed them slightly, you could tear them in half so you could appear to be a

strong man. Great trick. I didn't know that was the trick. No, that's the way it's done. Anyway, we were encouraged by my father. What games he was thinking of, I don't know. He encouraged us to look up people called Smelly, S-M-E-L-L-I-E. And then he allowed us to telephone them and say, are you Smelly? Yes. And then put the phone down.

Frank calling in the 50s. I'm appalled. That's amazing. And I'm particularly interested that my father let us do this because he was absolutely obsessed with the cost of telephone calls. Whenever my sisters were on the phone to their boyfriends, he'd be hovering by the telephone saying, get on with it, get on with it. Either he's interested or he isn't interested.

Oh, so annoying. Now, anyway, here we are. You're in Oxford, England. I'm in London, England. But happily, with Something Rhymes with Purple, we speak to the world. It's thrilling for us that we have listeners literally all over planet Earth. Yeah. But I thought it'd be quite fun today to talk about the names of places that we know.

Maybe we'll just talk about our little world. Maybe we can begin with my little world here in London. And then perhaps next year, as the years go by, we can go more international and talk about places around the UK and then around the world. And maybe our listeners can write in with some queries about name places that they might have. You, of course, have lived in London. You lived where? I lived in Soho. So I lived on Broadwick Street, where John Snow found the cause of cholera. Was it John Snow? I'm getting my history mixed up now. It was John Snow, wasn't it? I thought he was the person who presented the Channel 4 News. Anyway. I think I've got, hang on. While you're checking John Snow, I do remember when I was at

university, John Snow was a euphemism for drugs. Not that I ever took any. Shall we meet John Snow. I do remember when I was at university, John Snow was a euphemism for drugs. Not that I ever took any. Shall we meet John Snow, they'd say. And that meant, well, let's get together and taste some wacky powder. I'm saying that. Discovering all these things about you here. No, no. Prank calls and drugs behind the shed. Can I tell you, there was no, there was fun behind the shed, but that's a different matter. We'll come to that. We must do another episode about sex, by the way. We'll do that in a week or two. Good grief. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But no drugs. I have never taken drugs of any kind, not even a whiff of a cigarette. Really?

Let's get back to John Snow, Soho, Broadwick Street. Yes. Explain to us. Yes. John Snow essentially discovered the cause of cholera and there was a cholera outbreak in the 1850s and he essentially discovered that it was, because it had been assumed that it was airborne, but he was able to identify a water pump in Broad Street, what is now Broadwick Street, as the source of the disease. And he had the handle of the pump removed and the cases of cholera immediately began to go down so he was responsible pretty much for the kind of germ theory

of disease which really hadn't been around before at all so he was pretty amazing i loved soho i have to say soho got its name we think from a hunting cry called to the hound because it was surrounded by green fieldss and pastures. As in Tally Ho, Soho, Tally Ho. Yes, exactly. Similar, not the same as Soho in New York, which is south of the Houston River. So is it Houston or Houston? Houston, isn't it? Well, H-O-U-S-T-O-N. Yes, I should know that having lived in Manhattan. Actually, we must do, oh gosh,

the scope for place names would be amazing because Manhattan itself would be amazing. Oh, it's years since I've been to Manhattan. Oh, I in Manhattan. Actually, we must do, oh gosh, the scope for place names would be amazing because Manhattan itself would be amazing. Oh, it's years since I've been to Manhattan. Oh, I love Manhattan. The Bronx and Staten Island too. Yes, exactly. But yes, you're right, it's vast and we've had so many letters asking us for the origins of various place names

that I think it'd be a really good idea if people don't mind us being London-centric for a little bit to start there and then branch out because there's so, so much to be said. At the risk of irritating a lot of people, which I do whenever I open my mouth, I have to say London, from my point of view, is the capital of the world. I have lived here my entire life. I know the streets of London well. I'm one of those people who's been to every London

underground station, every single one. Did you do that as a bet or was that just in the course of living there? Well, neither as a bet, but in the course of living as a deliberate exercise. When I was a child, I used to do, and I may have mentioned this to you before, I used to do my revision for my O levels and A levels going round and round the circle line. In those days, the circle line was a circle. It was a very good way of doing it because I would wake myself up between stations. It was really boring stuff, as the train stopped, I woke up. And every time I got to Paddington, I got out and I allowed myself a cup of tea. How old were you at this point? Quite young then, if you're doing O-levels. That's GCSEs now. Yeah, GCSEs now. Oh, well,

I travelled on the London Underground alone from the age of six. Wow. And it was a different world. The 1950s, it was a totally different world. I didn't discover until years later, I thought I was totally alone, that my mother was in fact in the next carriage. No, that's so sweet. They encouraged me to be independent and to go to school. It was only two stops.

We lived at Earls Court and I went to the French Lycee, which was in South Kensington. So it was just a couple of stops, Earls Court, Gloucester Road, South Kent. And I went on my own, but my mother was about 10 feet behind and in the next carriage. I used to do that when my youngest used to go to the corner shop and I'd hide behind lampposts and sort of stealthily follow her district. That's certainly what you said to the magistrates when you were arrested. Yeah, that's the line you took. Okay. So I know London well. I love London. Let's talk about

etymology, please. What about London itself? What's the origin of London? Well, the first we know about London is the Romans name for it, which is Londinium, which is a word that, you know, some people still use affectionately for London town. It was a huge commercial centre, really, in Roman Britain. We don't quite know beyond that where it comes from. Some people think it comes from the name of King Ludd, who once controlled the city, but lots and lots of different theories, including one of Celtic origin. So we're not completely sure, but certainly our modern sense of it and our modern use of it derives from Londinium, the Romans. Okay, give me some more. What are the interesting

etymologies that you know of parts of London? I live in southwest London now. I live in Barnes, which is south of the river. It used to be just south of Hammersmith Bridge, but Hammersmith Bridge has been closed and maybe closed for some years. So I now say I live on, you know, just over Putney Bridge. I always was embarrassed when I moved south of the river. I didn't feel it was the right thing to do. You shouldn't live south of the river. Really? Because it was looked down upon?

Yes. That's my parents again. They were snobbish about it. I felt embarrassed, ashamed. In fact, I paid a vast fortune when I first moved here to keep my north of the river telephone number. Isn't that bizarre? That is interesting. I now live in Barnes. What are the other interesting parts of London? What are the

bits of London that are interesting? Well, Barnes itself is quite interesting, because that may indeed refer to a barn that was there. That's one theory. Or there was an old English word which actually came from the Vikings originally, bjorn, B-E-O-R-N, which of course gave us Bjorn in Swedish, B-Y-O-R-N, et cetera, meaning warrior. So, you know, lots of different theories. We should just say right at the beginning that, you know, not every place name has been definitively laid down.

There are lots and lots of theories. And for people who are linguistic anthropologists, if you like, looking through, well, I guess they're archaeologists in some ways here, looking through place names, etc. It's not always possible to say, yes, this definitely was named after one person. I mean, some we do know. So Nottingham, I think I've told you in the past, was the place settled by a leader called Snot. And it used to be called Snottingham.

But luckily for those living in Nottinghamshire, the it used to be called Snottingham. But luckily for those living in Nottinghamshire, the S kind of drifted away, perhaps deliberately. Well, no, I was just going to say, the other day I stayed at a lovely hotel called Watley Manor, in a place now called Watley, but it used to be called Twatley. Oh, I love that. T-W-A-T. It's very similar, isn't it? They took the T off, like Snottingham.

Yes, I love that. Anyway. Okay, so back to Londonon i'm going to start with highgate i like how i get that has its name from a gate set up there about well almost half a millennium ago probably just over 400 years to receive tolls for the bishops of london because there was a road from gray's inn lane to barnet and that went through the bishop's park. So that will explain Highgate. Covent Garden used to be convent garden because there was a garden and a burial ground attached to the convent of Westminster which was around there and then it was turned into a fruit and flower market in the reign of

Charles II. And I didn't know this. Did you know that Covent Garden now belongs to the Duke of Bedford? I didn't know it belonged to anyone. Yes, I think I did know that. Most of these places do belong to rather grand people, their underlying estates, and often the street names give you the clue to that. You know, in Westminster, which is largely owned by the Duke of Westminster, every other street has got Grosvenor in its name, or Lupus, the family name of the Dukes of Westminster. That's very interesting. I think we also, given our international audience, ought to say where these places are. Highgate is in North London.

Yes. It has an underground station, which was useful when I lived in Muswell Hill, which doesn't have an underground station. No, that's very true. And I don't know the origin of Muswell, actually. I don't know. I'm going to look that one up because that would be quite interesting. Another one that I love, not too far, I suppose, from Highgate, because it's still going north, is Chalk Farm.

Now, Chalk Farm is a lovely district in London. And the chalk, actually, was originally something very different. It was Chalkot. That was its first name, meaning a cold cottage, perhaps referring to a drafty dwelling in a really exposed location. And then Chalk was a kind of riff on that, perhaps encouraged by the resemblance to chalk. I have no idea, just linguistically speaking, not in terms of the soil. And then it was called a farm because there were two local farms there. So that takes us right back to the very beginnings. Speaking of chalk, Chelsea actually also has a link to chalk because we think that goes back to an old English word, chalk, which meant chalk or limestone. And it might mean the

landing place for chalk or limestone because you have to remember all the cargo that was carried across the Thames. The Thames, by the way, may take its name from, believe it or not, a Sanskrit word, a really ancient word meaning dark, because its waters were considered to be dark and cloudy. They still are, really. Other people think it's named after a Roman word meaning wide and Isis meaning water. And of course, there's a river Isis near me in Oxford as well. While we're in Chelsea, can I give you a quiz question? Yes. I love Chelsea. One of the parts of London I was brought up in was Chelsea.

Part of my love of Oscar Wilde comes from the fact that he lived in Chelsea, not far from us in Tite Street. I lived for a while in Oakley Street, opposite the house where Lady Wilde, Oscar Wilde's mother, lived. So I walked the streets of Chelsea as a child, and I used to get my hair cut at Harrods. There was a children's hairdresser's at Harrods next to, not the toy department, but to the zoo. Harrods had a zoo and pet shop in the 1950s.

Seriously. And you would go in there and you'd get your hair cut and then you'd go around and you'd meet the turtles and the monkeys and the snakes. Isn't that extraordinary? Yeah. Anyway, the point is, Harrods is near, and the tube station for it is Knightsbridge. Yes. Why is Knightsbridge a unique English place name? Oh, gosh, is this my quiz question?

That's your quiz question. And please, purple people, see if you can answer it before Susie Dent does. Knightsbridge. What is unique about the name knightsbridge why is it the most remarkable name of any place in the english language knightsbridge just look at the word k-n-i-g-h-t-s-b-r-i-d-g-e don't know what's special about it let me reveal it okay it's the one name that has in the middle of it six consecutive consonants of course isn't that extraordinary g h t s b r oh i love that i know that the name is possibly based on the fact that there was a bridge there that may have been used by the knights and the ladies the wealthy wealthy people, the aristocracy of London. That's one theory for it. But oh, that's a really good one. And I should know that

as a linguist. Thank you for that. Can I tell you about Charing Cross? We've mentioned Charing Cross before, I think, because it's just such a lovely, has such a lovely story. Because Charing goes back to an old English word meaning a turn or a bend, either referring to a bend in the River Thames at this point or the bend in the old Roman road that existed. But the cross refers to the Eleanor Cross erected here and in several other places actually by Edward I to commemorate his first wife, Eleanor of Castile, and her funeral procession went from cross to cross. So it's got a lovely story of love behind it, Charing Cross. Sorry, can you hear my radiators creak? Yeah, it's your radiators, is it? I thought it was your brain slowly coming to life.

Yeah, or slowly going back to sleep again. Am I right in thinking that people think that the centre of London is Charing Cross. So when you see a sign, when you're approaching London, on whatever motorway it is, and it says seven miles to central London, it is seven miles to Charing Cross. Absolutely right. All distances calculated from there, which is nice. Hammersmith is another really nice one. It's just in some ways, they just wear their hearts on their sleeve and you just don't think about it. Because Hammersmith is referring simply to a forge that was there, you know, where things were hammered out. And Fulham, that's a bit like Snottingham actually, that comes from an Anglo-Saxon name, Fuller, who was probably a chieftain there.

And as we go around Britain and talk about place names, we'll talk about suffixes and prefixes, but Ham in this case obviously was the Hamlet. So Fulham was the Hamlet of Fuller, the chieftain. You've reminded me of something here, because you were talking about Snottingham changing their name, and I mentioned Twatley becoming Watley. In Barnes, there was a developer called Boileau, who developed a whole part of Barnes and named three of the roads after his three daughters. And there's still Rose Road, I think, and there's Mildred Road. But the people who lived in Fanny Road objected. And so Fanny Road had its name changed.

It's funny, isn't it, how people change their names? I smile every time I pass Crotch Crescent, which is near me, because I just think it's perfect. And I'm so proud of them for not having changed it. What's it called? Crotch Crescent. Crotch Crescent. Crotch Crescent. Which is brilliant and entirely memorable.

But yeah, speaking of place names that wear their hearts on their sleeves, Lambeth is another one. Lambeth is another borough of London. And that simply meant place where the lambs landed. Oh, I like that. Isn't that nice? So, you know, where the lambs would cross. So I think that's really lovely. Bromley is another one. Bromley, which meant broom wood. So you have to

unpack that one a little bit. What else? Oh, Clerkenwell, I like. Now, Clerkenwell is a district in London. How would you describe Clerkenwell? I would describe Clerkenwell as quite historic. It's really towards the city of London. So it's towards the east. It's quite leafy. It's got some interesting open squares. It's got a literary heritage. I was making a film recently about Charles Dickens

and I visited a court in Clerkenwell that he had been a court reporter at, I think in the 1830s or 1840s. Is it in Bleak House? I think, isn't Bleak House set near there? Could well be. I think, in the 1830s or 1840s. Is it in Bleak House? I think, isn't Bleak House set near there? Could well be. I think so. And actually, I associate it a little bit like Lincoln's in Fields.

I associate it with the law, really, Clark and Wells. So that would tie into that. And actually, it goes back to a lovely word meaning scholars spring. Oh, as in Clark being a critical figure? Absolutely. And possibly, you know, a clerk in the courts, etc. So that one still wears its history quite strongly, which is nice. We must talk about, we've been talking about some of Crott Crescent, etc. But there are so

many funny names across the UK, actually, we must get to those at some point. Well, should we take a break? Okay. Should we take a break? And then let's just have a flavour of some of the silly names. I do love a silly name. I do want to talk to you about Pratt's Bottom. Bumble knows it's hard to start conversations. Hey. No, too basic. Hi there.

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Are you the friend who can recognize anime themes sampled by J. Cole, MF Doom, and The Weeknd? Don't worry. I'm Lee Alec Murray, and I'm also that person. I'm Nick Friedman. And I'm Leah President, and we invite you to take your Sonic knowledge to the next level by listening to our show, Crunchyroll Presents The Anime Effect. Learn about how Yeji's latest album was actually born from her own manga. I started off with not even the music. I started off by writing a fantastical story. Or how 24K Golden gets inspired by his favorite opening themes.

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

or on the Crunchyroll YouTube channel. We're back and we're going to talk about Pratt's Bottom, Susie Dent. Where and what is Pratt's Bottom? Well, Pratt's Bottom is in Kent, actually, but it's a village in Greater London. So that kind of fits in with our exploration of London's place names today. because do you remember, I think I've told you that a Pratt fall in comedy and in the theatre was actually a fall onto the buttocks because that was the original meaning of Pratt. In fact, it meant a single buttock, not two originally. So Pratt's Bottom is a bit like saying bottom, bottom. Oh, that's rather amusing. I've never been to Pratt's Bottom, but again, I'm very chuffed

that they've actually decided to keep it. But oh are so many, many, many brilliant place names up and down the land. And we'll probably mention most of them when we explore place names beyond London. But I mentioned... Just give me two or three. Just tease me with two or three. Christmas is coming. I mentioned Richard Whiteley at the beginning of the show. And he was mayor of Wetwang, which always makes me laugh.

Wetwang in Yorkshire, which is just perfect, really. I think we should say that he was a self-appointed mayor of Wetwang. which always makes me laugh. Wetwang in Yorkshire, which is just perfect, really. I think we should say that he was a self-appointed mayor of Wetwang. Was he? I never really knew the story. I mean, Wetwang doesn't actually have a mayor. It's not big enough. But he called himself the mayor of Wetwang. Okay. I think that probably just meant wet field, by the way. I don't think it means more than that, but it always makes me laugh. And Cornwall has a boobies bay. Now booby actually used to mean a kind of seabird that was known for its stupidity because it was very easily caught, which is why we have the booby prize today. It's the one for the person

that's not been very alert or clever. So I reckon because it's by the sea, I'm assuming boobies bay, that it refers to that seabird. But maybe we can explore that when we go on. Well, I want to explore a little bit more the booby thing for a moment. Because a booby in literature, for example, Henry Fielding, who lived, whose country house was indeed in Barnes, where I live and whose house is still there. Yeah. Henry Fielding refers, I know, to a character being a booby in one of his books.

And the idea of a person being a booby relates, you say, to this bird. It's sort of possibly all linked in together. So it may be quite difficult to know which came first. But it's probably from a Spanish word, bobo, which meant stammering. Well, the Latin bulbus meant stammering and bobo meant just a bit foolish. And so a booby prize really, this doesn't explain the woman's boob breast sense, by the way, that's something completely different. But yes, the booby prize is definitely a reference to the seabird that was considered to

be a bit stupid and as I say, would be easily caught. The boob that's a breast, and that's pretty much a British slang term. I don't think they would use that beyond Britain, but our lovely purple people can correct me. But that's probably related to the German boobie, which simply means a teat. So that's that one. Oh, really? Boobie, boobie. Yeah. Good. We'll go into that in much more detail in a couple of weeks when we get around to our sex episode. You are obsessed with this episode. I'm slightly dreading this one.

I'm going to turn the Zoom camera off for the sex episode you are obsessed with this episode i'm slightly dreading this one i'm going to turn the zoom camera off for the sex episode for sure uh anyway is there any more that you're curious about i'm curious about i mean i we've left london now um just i was in norfolk not long ago and i did literally pass great snoring and little snoring yes and it's perfect isn't it and and I did literally pass great snoring and little snoring. Yes. And it's perfect, isn't it? It is. And are they anything to do with snoring as in sleeping? I reckon I'm almost positive.

I'm looking it up now, but I'm almost positive that it will be to do with a chieftain who was called snoring or something similar. Yes. He was probably called snaringer or snare even. probably called a snaringer or snare even so i think quite often what we do is if it sounds like an english word that we're familiar with we will change it accordingly and you know we've talked before on the podcast how we do that all the time we'll just that sounds a bit like this so let's plump for that so nothing to do with snores don't know if they're sleepy villages but what a great name well speaking of sex and knightsbridge inbridge, sex is what we have our potatoes delivered in. And it's also where a creche is what happens when two cars collide.

Yes. Okay, let's leave London for now. But if you've got any questions on place names in London, England, Europe, the world, do get in touch. It's purple at somethingelse.com. That's something without the G. Now, actually, speaking of listeners, has anyone been in touch? Oh, good grief. Yes, we get so many letters and emails, I should say. I'm not sure if we actually get any letters in this day and age, but it's lovely to get your emails. So please do keep

them coming. Do you remember we asked for people's definitions for that feeling of disappointment when there's no coffee left in the mug, even though you could swear there was some left. And I think I extended that to a half eaten snack that you've put the rest down somewhere, but you cannot find it. And you're convinced that you haven't finished the whole thing. Well, lots of people got in touch about the coffee sense of this and hands down our favorite came from dave trainier in colchester who coined it a decaffeinate oh clever decaffeinate and laurence our producer said by the way why do we say hands down i vaguely remember it from our sports episode on horse racing and yes that is the answer it's when you are so far ahead of the rest of the field that you can afford to relax

the reins and they just sort of hang down more loosely by the horse's neck. So that's what hands down means. Very good. I like that. Well, on the topic of place names, Paul Bradbury from the West Midlands, which is in England, has been in touch. Dear Susie and Giles, the other day, what I was reading mentioned loggerheads in Shropshire as a place name. Loggerheads, one word. I'm aware there is at least one other place in the UK, North Wales, to share that name. And I wondered if either of them has any link to the idea of being at loggerheads with someone. Can you shed any light on this? Well, can you, Susie Dent? Well, I have no idea about the place name, I have to say. So I will have to look at it. I can tell

you about the origin of loggerheads. And perhaps, you know, the purple people will know if there's been some story behind it that would explain some dispute, because it takes us back to the 16th century when a logger was a heavy block of wood that would be tied to a horse in order to prevent it from wandering too far. But do not recommend this, it sounds horrible. But figuratively, a loggerhead was somebody who was then wooden-headed, a blockhead in other words, so foolish. And then in the 17th century, it came to describe not a wooden block tied to a horse's leg, but a heavy iron tool used in ship building for making pitch. And of course, that was a potentially lethal weapon in a fight. And so we think that's where at loggerheads came from. And it's one of

so many words in English for having a kerfuffle. You've got, you know, argy bargy, you've got stramash in Scotland, which I love. You've got hubble shububble, a foo-for-aw, a brouhaha. There's a wonderful lexicon of things meaning loggerheads, but I'm not sure. I genuinely don't know how that might have informed the place name. So a bit of research for me to do that. And we could have a whole loggerheads episode coming up, which we explore brouhaha. Do you know that one instantly? Brouhaha is simply from French and we think it's onomatopoeic. Oh, brouhaha. Onomatopoe, meaning it sounds like, the word sounds like it. What it's describing.

The word sounds like what it's describing. Yes. Onomatopoeia. Why is it called onomatopoeia? Onomatopoeia in Greek simply refers to, well, it's pretty much the sound of syllables, really. And it's one of the hardest things to spell. But you know, I have a spelling app for kids, which I work with somebody called Sir Link-a-Lot.

That's his pen name. Andy Salmon has produced this brilliant spelling app for kids. And one of the animations basically has kids singing out how to spell onomatopoeia. And even those kids who really, really struggle can do it by the end. And it goes O-N-O-M-A-T-O-P-O-E-I-A. Oh, brilliant. Do that again. Do that again, please.

It says O-N-O-M-A-T-O-P-O-E-I-A. Oh, I love it. And it's lovely. If you've got a class full of students, they just, they absolutely love it. But yeah, it means, I think it means name making. So onomasty, for example, is the study of names. So that's where the onoma comes from. And the pia is kind of like making. So it's sort of name making, and you are making a name to reflect the sound. So it's sound symbolism, really.

I think it's beautiful. Will you sing it once more? O-N-O-M-A-T-O-P-O-E-I-A. That will become an oral meme. People will just take that little clip and play it. I hope not. Don't take the first one. It was really off.

Just one more. We've got time for one more before your words of the week. Claire, my French co-worker, writes Peter Theophilus Bevis. What a wonderful name, Peter Theophilus Bevis. Do you think that's his real name? I think Theophilus means God-loving, doesn't it? Oh, as in Theo being God and Philus as in, you know, Europhile. Logophile, all of that stuff. Exactly. Anyway, my French co-worker

explained that in French, éclair means both the cream-filled pastry and thunder. Éclair, E-C-L-A-I-R. How did it come to mean both things? Can someone really have invented that pastry and thought, tell you what, this cream-filled dainty reminds me of thunder? Great question, Peter. of this because of its etymology. Actually, I know éclair to mean lightning rather than thunder. So I always assumed that the éclair kind of went down like a bolt of lightning and I was like, you just flashed it. Gone in a flash is what I mean.

I think you're right. So you just eat it very quickly. As in éclair, éclair, éclair. It is lightning, I think. Lightning. So that's how I took it. But, you know, I have no idea. Maybe the person who invented it.

Because it's choux pastry, isn't it? Filled with cream and topped with chocolate. Keep all this for the sex episode, darling. Let's move swiftly on. What are your three words of the week? My three words of the week. Okay. So we talk about magnanimity.

And this year, obviously, has been a time where we remember those who showed huge magnanimity. Can you say that? Magnanimity. You ought to sing it. It's quite hard to say. MAG. Okay, go on. Go on. Magnanimity. It's generosity, isn't it? It's being sort of big in spirit and big in gestures. And I love it. Well, did you know that there was an opposite? So somebody who is petty and is defined in the dictionary of being of an inferior or of ignoble mind and is the opposite of magnanimity, that's called parvanimity from the Latin parvas meaning small. So parvanimity, I think it could be quite a useful word for those who just show meanness of spirit, really. So we talked about a booby in this episode,

somebody who is just a little bit foolish well here's another one to go with it sumpf s-u-m-p-h this one's definitely o-n-o-m and i won't carry on but onomatopoeic it means a soft stupid fellow oh how do you spell it a sumpf s-u-m-e-f-p-h yes oh he's a bit of a sumpf. I like it. I like that one. He's sort of soft and stupid. Yes. And finally, something that you might want. We're recording this on a Friday, aren't we, Jaz? So this might come in handy a bit later today.

A merry-go-down. A merry-go-down is a sip of strong ale or any other drink that you might like to take. It could be, you know, for the hydropots, it could be simply a soft drink, but a merry-go-down. I'm looking forward to my Friday night merry-go-down. I love it! As opposed to a merry-go-round, a merry-go-down. After your three words of the week,

I've got three little poems of the week. And in the last few days, it's been the birthday of my friend and neighbour here in Barnes, the great Roger McGough. Ah, the poet. The poet. The poet who came from Liverpool, but somehow settled in West London, but still maintains his wonderful Liverpool accent. And he is a complete delight. And he sometimes pops

around with poems and gives me little books that he's written. And I thought in honour of Roger McGough, I'd share three of his gems with you. One's called Recycling. I care about the environment and try to do what is right. So I cycle to work every morning and recycle home every night. Neat, isn't it? This one's called Survivor. Every day I think about dying, about disease, Every day I think about dying, about disease, starvation, violence, terrorism, war, the end of the world. It helps keep my mind off things. Isn't he clever?

That's one for you and me, the eternal warriors we are, aren't we? Well, this will amuse you because people, you know, look at you in the street. I know they do. I've walked along the street with you and people turn around to look at you. Do they? Yeah, they do. They do. Anyway, this poem is called Fame.

All right? Fame. And Roger McGough, as well as being a great poet, is quite a good name. Fame by Roger McGough. The best thing about being famous is when you walk down the street and people turn around to look at you

and bump into things. I have to say that's never happened to me. I've frequently bumped into things, but I don't think anyone has ever turned around and consequently walked into something else. But that happens with people, you know, when they're niddle-noddling, that should have been one of my words. If you niddle-noddle, you have your face buried in a phone or whatever it is that you're studying and are not looking where you're going. And then you might end up walking across a busy street or walking into a lamppost. So do not niddle-noddle without having a clear path ahead of you.

We've become a nation of niddle-noddlers. We have. But we want a world of something rhymes with purple listeners. Do, if you've enjoyed the show, spread the word. We've had a wonderful year. We've got this lovely award as best entertainment podcast.

We've had great reviews. We've got hundreds of thousands, we've had millions of downloads. It's fantastic. But please, if you do like it, spread the word. And we are very much here as your servants. So if you've got questions you want to ask, just send them in.

And Susie will do her best to answer. And I will do my best not to interrupt too often. You get in touch with us, purple at somethingelse.com. That's something without a G. And I don't know about you, Giles, but I do read all the reviews because I get a weekly update of them. So they are all read. So thank you. Please do keep them coming in.

Something Rhymes with Purple is a Something Else production. It was produced by Lawrence Bassett with help from Harriet Wells, Steve Ackerman, Ella McLeod, Jay Beale. And he's back. He is back. This week, we are thankful to... Gully. He's been away. Yes, drum roller. He's been away. Gully. Yes, drum roll there.

He's been away. Gully. Niddle noddling. I don't know what he's been doing, but his beard's a bit longer. He's taking Medigo down a bit seriously.