Thinking man's/woman's crumpet explained

In British English, the thinking man's crumpet or thinking woman's crumpet is a humorous term for a person who is popular with the opposite sex because of their intelligence and their physical attractiveness.[1]

The expression is derived from the slang use of the term "crumpet" to refer to a woman who is regarded as an object of sexual desire.[2]

Usage

The first person to be called "the thinking man's crumpet" was Joan Bakewell, by humourist Frank Muir, following her appearances in highbrow television discussion programmes such as BBC2's Late Night Line-Up.[3] Bakewell is still synonymous with the phrase, but it has subsequently been applied to other high-profile women such as Anne Gregg,[4] Joanna Lumley,[4] Kate Bush and Felicity Kendal,[4] and, more recently, Helen Mirren,[5] Jennifer Saunders, Lucy Worsley and Gillian Anderson.[6] [7] In a poll in the Radio Times in 2003, Nigella Lawson received the most votes to be the readers' "thinking man's crumpet",[8]

Almost half a century after Muir deployed the term, Bakewell (by then Baroness Bakewell and a Dame of the British Empire) remarked that "it has taken me a lifetime to live it down. It was meant as a compliment I suppose, but it was a little bit of a put-down".[9]

Actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth and Bill Nighy have been repeatedly called by the press "the thinking woman's crumpet",[10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] as has historian Michael Wood.

After the release of the 1997 film Titanic, Kate Winslet was dubbed by one newspaper as "the sinking man's crumpet".[16] [17]

Stewart Lee uses the phrase "crumpet man's thinker" in his stand-up, referring to Andrew Graham-Dixon.

Notes and References

  1. http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/the-thinking-woman-s-man-s-crumpet The thinking woman's/man's crumpet - definition in the British English Dictionary & Thesaurus - Cambridge Dictionaries Online
  2. http://www.worldwidewords.org/topicalwords/tw-cru1.htm Crumpet
  3. https://web.archive.org/web/20070311124624/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2003/10/05/bobak05.xml&sSheet=/arts/2003/10/05/bomain.html An affair to remember
  4. http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article1369575.ece Obituary
  5. http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article1311224.ece Helen Mirren: A real drama queen
  6. X-Files Undercover. 16 May 1996. David Wild. Rolling Stone. 4 March 2016.
  7. Web site: Gillian Anderson: actor with a very distinctive X factor. 27 July 2014. Ryan Gilbey. The Guardian. 4 March 2016.
  8. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/bbcworldwide/worldwidestories/pressreleases/2003/09_september/rt_80.shtml Press Release
  9. Quoted in The Oldie, June 2014
  10. Colin Firth: The Thinking Ladies' Leading Man - Photo Essays - TIME . Time . 22 February 2011.
  11. Web site: Shinan Govani: Tapping Idris Elba and Benedict Cumberbatch, the Titans of TIFF National Post . 2013-12-03 . https://archive.today/20131113031000/http://arts.nationalpost.com/2013/08/10/shinan-govani-tapping-idris-elba-and-benedict-cumberbatch-the-titans-of-tiff/ . 2013-11-13 . dead .
  12. News: Benedict Cumberbatch: Success? It's elementary . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/benedict-cumberbatch-success-its-elementary-2197808.html . 2022-05-07 . subscription . live . London . The Independent . Alice-Azania . Jarvis . 29 January 2011.
  13. News: Bill Nighy: 'thinking woman's crumpet' with a passion for fashion . The Times . Polly . Vernon . 13 August 2011.
  14. News: A Veteran Actor's New Role: 'Thinking Woman's Crumpet' . The New York Times . Kathryn . Shattuck . 12 November 2006.
  15. News: Bill Nighy: 'I am not suddenly the greatest actor in the world' . The Guardian . Patrick . Barkham . 19 November 2009.
  16. News: Sweet. Matthew. Kate Winslet: the sinking man's crumpet . 2001-02-14 . . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/cinema-kate-winslet-the-sinking-mans-crumpet-1140753.html . 2022-05-07 . subscription . live . 2010-02-12 . London.
  17. Web site: Mather. Victoria. Tom checks into his new starry home. 1998-01-25. Evening Standard. 2010-02-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20110605070059/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/promotions/article-917730-tom-checks-into-his-new-starry-home.do. 2011-06-05. dead.

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