Thinking man's crumpet

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. Bakewell is still synonymous with the phrase, but it has subsequently been applied to other high-profile women such as Anne Gregg, Joanna Lumley, Kate Bush and Felicity Kendal, and, more recently, Helen Mirren, Lucy Worsley and Gillian Anderson. In a poll in the Radio Times in 2003, Nigella Lawson received the most votes to be the readers' "thinking man's crumpet".

Almost half a century after Muir deployed the term, Bakewell (by then Baroness Bakewell and a Dame Commander 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".

Actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth and Bill Nighy have been called "the thinking woman's crumpet" by the press.

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

Stewart Lee called Andrew Graham-Dixon "the crumpet man's thinker."

References

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], from [[World Wide Words]].
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], ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', 5 October 2003.
4. [http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article1369575.ece Obituary] {{Webarchive. link. (2006-10-08 , ''[[The Independent]]'', 9 September 2006.)
5. [http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article1311224.ece Helen Mirren: A real drama queen] {{Webarchive. link. (2007-03-12 , ''[[The Independent]]'', 3 September 2006.)
6. David Wild. (16 May 1996). "X-Files Undercover".
7. Ryan Gilbey. (27 July 2014). "Gillian Anderson: actor with a very distinctive X factor". [[The Guardian]].
8. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/bbcworldwide/worldwidestories/pressreleases/2003/09_september/rt_80.shtml Press Release], [[BBC Worldwide]], 22 September 2003.
9. Quoted in ''The Oldie'', June 2014
10. (22 February 2011). "Colin Firth: The Thinking Ladies' Leading Man".
11. "Shinan Govani: Tapping Idris Elba and Benedict Cumberbatch, the Titans of TIFF". National Post.
12. Jarvis, Alice-Azania. (29 January 2011). "Benedict Cumberbatch: Success? It's elementary". The Independent.
13. Vernon, Polly. (13 August 2011). "Bill Nighy: 'thinking woman's crumpet' with a passion for fashion". [[The Times]].
14. Shattuck, Kathryn. (12 November 2006). "A Veteran Actor's New Role: 'Thinking Woman's Crumpet'". The New York Times.
15. Barkham, Patrick. (19 November 2009). "Bill Nighy: 'I am not suddenly the greatest actor in the world'". The Guardian.
16. Sweet, Matthew. (2001-02-14). "Kate Winslet: the sinking man's crumpet". [[The Independent]].
17. Mather, Victoria. (1998-01-25). "Tom checks into his new starry home". [[Evening Standard]].
18. Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle, series 3, episode 6, "Marriage".