My ex-girlfriend once got excited about me achieving two consecutive full minutes, but that's another story. <rimshot>
Sorry. I was hoping for a bonus point.
But on a related topic I have been listening to the complete JAM series from 1967 and - having reached 2015 - am nearly up to date.
It's interesting how the language in the show has loosened up over the years.
A few years ago (2003 to be precise - see below) Nick would tactfully inform guests that the show had a quota of allowable 'buggers' (so at least the naughty words were acknowledged) however more recently a "bugger" (even by angelic Sheila Hancock) or "bastard" barely even gets noticed or commented on.
-- Hereafter, please find some serious academic analysis of historical buggery in JAM --
-- This noble research was only possible with the help of Dean's great archive of JAM transcripts --
-- Next week - The historical role of 'Bastard' in Just a Minute --
(JAM-1985-03-03@352,S18E15=A Turn - The B-word is bleeped out)
PJ: He said "Bognor will do you the world of good". And the old King replied "(the word bugger is beeped) Bognor!"
BUZZ
LOUD LAUGHTER FROM NP, DN AND THE AUDIENCE
PJ: Well...
NP: Derek actually challenged you before that.
DN: Well I'm just relieved that it wasn't the doctor who said "(the word bugger is beeped) Bognor!" But never mind...
NP: No...
DN: (laughing) I was I... I... it was the repetition of King that I was challenging on.
NP: It was repetition of King, yes.
DN: Yes well there you are. One's finding out quite a lot on this programme today really.
NP: So he did actually repeat the word King, I'm very sorry Peter, so you've got in...
KW: Do you allow bad language on this programme? Are you going to allow that?
NP: Well...
DN: It's true! he did say that!
NP: There's nothing I can do about it. It's a spontaneous show.
KW: It's supposed to be a decent family audience.
NP: Whatever comes out comes out. That's the way it goes.
PJ: Well he's credited with a number of last words. Another phrase that he was credited with was "how goes the Empire?" That's not as funny, I suppose, as the Bognor one. But ah...
DN: Unless your name is Mister Milestone really.
NP: He did actually say that and so Peter was repeating it. Perhaps he shouldn't have done it in a family show which is going around the world and might affect certain people's susceptibilities. But Derek got in alas...
PJ: Well if I shouldn't have said it, certainly the King shouldn't have said it!
(JAM-1993-02-20@431,S26E08=Stocking)
CF: A duck is a very badly designed animal, also a bugger to pluck. Incredibly difficult to...
BUZZ
NP: Derek Nimmo challenged.
DN: I don't think you can say words like that on this programme!
PM: Are you using Cockney rhyming slang? It certainly sounds like it!
NP: Yah! So what is your challenge Derek?
DN: Deviation, buggering a duck, I suppose!
...
PM: I would like to be a roast duck in post-war Britain because it sounds like it had a right old time indeed! Not only could you look forward to being basted in the oven but there was the pre-buggery beforehand! This used to give such fun and enjoyment...
(JAM on Television, 24 February 1994)
NR: The curious thing about Luton Airport is when one is not seeing Lorraine Chase drinking a ... oh bugger!
BUZZ
NR: I was going to say the band, wasn't I.
NP: Yes, right.
DN: She wasn't actually drinking a bugger, she was drinking something quite different actually.
NP: Derek you had a correct challenge...
(JAM-1997-02-01@469,S30E05=Saint Andrews)
PJ: Well a humbug is a very tiresome irritating chap who misinterprets rules and laws and causes a lot of trouble for other people. Humbuggery is very prevalent in this country where many of the, many of the humbugs that I've met have got soft centres like their, ah, namesake the, er, dessert sweet which is pillow shaped and smells of peppermint. And tastes of it very often. Ah, er, humbugs...
BUZZ
NP: Tony Hawks challenged.
TH: Well I thought he sort of ground to a halt there really. Is that hesitation?
NP: I think he did, I know. He was carried away with his humbugs. Twenty-eight seconds available for humbugs with you Tony starting now.
TH: How delighted I was to hear Peter Jones use the word humbuggery not long ago. As far as I can say on Radio Four, I haven't heard that er enough...
BUZZ
NP: Clement Freud challenged.
CF: Repetition of heard.
NP: Yes he did, you heard it from Peter Jones and he heard it on Radio Four. Nineteen seconds Clement, humbug starting now.
CF: A person who commits humbuggery would be called a humbugger, a man, a pederast with a speech impediment. And... I thought that would get a
laugh!
BUZZ
NP: Tony Hawks has challenged.
TH: I think you hesitated because you thought that would get a laugh.
NP: Yes. You're right but he doesn't get a point. You get a point and you get the subject and there's seven seconds on humbug starting now.
TH: A humbugger is something that you eat when you're extraordinarily hungry. Now that doesn't deserve to get a...
WHISTLE
(JAM-1997-03-01@473,S30E09=Greens) << just realised the date was wrong on this ep!
FM: That's right, I was counting a triple letter score on the F! See Peter, this isn't as boring as golfers!
PJ: No, but it is touching on humbuggery!
LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE FROM THE AUDIENCE
(JAM-2002-01-07@557,S40E02=Crows Feet)
SF: Bugger! I said more twice! Damn!
NP: Yes...
SF: It's a trap for the unwary, this game, isn't it!
NP: I know!
SF: Dear me!
NP: Yes! Particularly with the language! Um...
SF: Oh!
NP: Who challenged? I don't know.
CF: I did.
NP: You did, Clement, what was your challenge?
CF: He said bugger twice!
LAUGHTER FROM THE AUDIENCE
(JAM-2003-07-28@592,S43E04=Perfect Breakfast)
SH: In this advert there was one chimpanzee...
BUZZ
SH: Oh bugger!
NP: We're allowed one of those a show by the way so er...
SH: He put me off!
NP: Advert, you said the advert...
SH: I know, I know, that's why I said bugger!
(JAM-2004-01-19@601,S44E03=My Favorite Words)
LS: She loved her turkey burger, did George!
PM: Yeah she used to swear by them!
LS: Oh oh she was a bugger for them honestly! She used to get through a box a day, honestly!
PM: Yeah.
[Note - there was no remark on the use of the B word)
JAM-2004-01-26@602,S44E04=Doing Two Things At Once)
NR: Origami is the ancient Japanese art of paper folding. It is very... old and...
BUZZ
NP: Gyles got it back immediately, yes?
GB: I don't really want it back, because I know bugger all about it!
NP: Anyway you have origami and 50 seconds starting now.
(Again, there was no comment again when the B-word was used)
(Thereafter, the B-word is not even remarked upon when it is used.)
Let's see if Yahoo's naughtiness filters ironically nobble this post !
But Nicholas still can get upset by 'improper' comments about the royal family - particularly when Gyles concocts one of his ribald Camilla stories.
I recall a couple of "Classic Nick" moments (alas, I not note down which episodes they were, but they were rather recent)...
- At one point Nick said "I agree with Paul's Merton" instead of "Paul's challenge". It went unnoticed by any player.
- Nick pushed one first-time player's buzzer for her and prompted her to challenge for repetition of "blankety-blanks". The poor girl had to explain gently to him that they were two different words.
- From memory, in one episode Nick cheerfully upheld a challenge for repetition in "BBC" and a few minutes later disdainfully rejected exactly the same challenge for being trite and silly.
Mark