My parents were both born in Ireland in the 1930s. They moved to London, separately, met here and were married in the 1950s. In the years that followed they had three children: my older brother, my younger sister, me in the middle. As the 1970s began the three of us were all at the same… Continue reading 1970s Date Nights
This earlier piece contained a challenge based on the titles of UK #1 hit singles: 33 songs where the first word (or words) of the title were also the title of another song that reached #1. Here are the clues again, followed by the answers. The clues The first song title consists of a single… Continue reading More Pop Trivia: titles of UK #1 hits contained within other #1s (the answers)
It’s time for some more pop trivia based on songs that have reached #1 in the UK charts. If this sort of thing doesn’t appeal to you, look away now. Last September (blimey, four months ago already) I posted this piece about UK #1 hits whose titles run on (and on, in some cases). The… Continue reading More Pop Trivia: titles of UK #1 hits contained within other #1s
An acronym is a word made up of the initial letters of other words, like NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) or AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). You probably knew that already, but I only became familiar with the word at university, when someone explained the derivation of the word Narg (which you can read about… Continue reading Word of the week: backronym
The format of the BBC quiz show “Mastermind” has barely changed since it was first broadcast in the 1970s. In the opening rounds four contestants each answer two minutes’ worth of questions on a special subject and then have two and a half minutes on general knowledge. In later rounds (semi-finals, the grand final) there… Continue reading “Mastermind” and Special Subjects
As earlier pieces have noted, including this page on the Lyrics Menu, I spend a lot of time listening to, and thinking about, the words to pop songs. That’s why there’s a category for them on this Blog, but I think about lyrics far more than the 20 pieces published here so far would suggest.… Continue reading “Bobby’s Girl”
Wednesday is usually my busiest day for drafting and finalizing Blog Posts. I aim to post a certain amount of words each week and if I haven’t managed them by Wednesday I will often get up early enough, and stay up late enough, to do so. I was up just after 5.30am this morning to… Continue reading Anthony Trollope never had this trouble
What word or words do you use at the end of brief exchanges with people you don’t know? If you pay for something in a shop or bar, what do you say when you get your change or your receipt? If the person who has served you is male, maybe it’s “Cheers mate” or “Thanks… Continue reading Word of the week: man
This is a mostly biographical piece about fluctuations in body weight. It was prompted by something the actor-comedian Greg Davies said when he was a guest on the Chris Evans breakfast show on BBC Radio 2 one Friday last July. As I noted in this piece, those Friday morning Chris Evans shows have an entirely… Continue reading “Never heavier”; reflections on body weight
A sketch in the CBBC show “Horrible Histories” has provided us with a new catchphrase over the last 12 months. It’s a reworking of the phrase that most of us first heard in childhood, “easy peasy, lemon squeezy”. The sketch is titled “Francisco Pizarro’s Very Rough Guide 1526” and involves two Spanish Conquistadores, Pedro and… Continue reading “Easy peasy, squeeze the lemon”
The Compartments 