James O'Brien's Mystery Hour

00:02 This is a Global Player original podcast. 00:08 This is LBC from Global. Leading Britain's conversation. Mystery Hour with James O'Brien. 00:16 It's four minutes after 12. It's Thursday. It's time for some light relief. And goodness knows we need it, don't we? Thank you, Keith. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Thank you very much. 00:25 I can tell you now that because Simon Martz was in the studio for the last 10 minutes, the switchboard is almost empty, which means this is your best chance in a very long time to book a place on Mystery Hour, but only, of course, if you have a good question. 03456060973 is the number that you need to pose or to share whatever mystery it is that you are keen to see solved. 00:49 If you're new to this feature, perhaps a little word on how it works, I've kind of told you already, but it's a curious combination, isn't it, Keith, of serious and silly. Some of the questions that we discover answers to will stay with you for a very long time. Some will disappear like, I don't know, flower petals in an autumn breeze, or leaves, rather, in an autumn breeze. But what they all have in common is this. 01:16 I can't remember. Don't have anything in common. Some of them are silly, some of them are serious, some of them are daft, some of them are not. The point is that they are all mysteries. Who, why, what, where, when, whither, wherefore. You ring in with a question, someone else rings in with an answer. We used to have rules about repetition, but there's no chance. I can't even remember what we did in the first hour of the programme, let alone... 01:37 what happened on Mystery Hour 10 years ago. We used to have rules about people called Colin not being allowed to call in. I can't even remember why. But we also have rules about motoring. I nearly had a motoring question. Oh, I've bought an electric car. That was it. I was going to do a phone-in on whether or not I should buy an electric car. Then I got a message off my wife who's in charge of such matters saying, we've bought an electric car. And I thought, well, I can't do a phone-in now about whether or not we should buy an electric car because we've already bought an electric car. That would be fake news. 02:02 So here we are. If you submit my favourite... 02:06 favorite contribution of the day it can be a question an answer it could even be a steward's inquiry although i don't think that's ever happened then you can win a mystery hour game there are two types of game there is a board game and there is a travel game they are completely different games one is in a box the board game and one is in a tin the travel game you can find out more about both games at mysteryhour.co.uk where you can also buy them Or you can roll the dice and hope that you make my favourite contribution of the week and win one for free. 02:37 Terms and conditions apply. And you can find them at lbc.co.uk. I think that covers it. 02:43 Can I start with a mystery? Just a little mystery. Nodding back to the conversation we had in the last hour. You know that I have... I had to wean myself off the history function on my inbox. So, you know, I'm not weaning myself off it completely. But here's a mystery. Does this bloke realise how daft he is? OK, do not ring in to answer this question. So he sent me a message today saying, James, I really don't like you calling reform a racist party. There are bad eggs in all parties, including the Greens now of all people. 03:15 I'm a reform member and trust me, I am not racist. And why wouldn't I trust you? Well, I can't imagine why, but I thought I'd check. So I had a little bit of a look at your history and I found that back in September, you sent me this. I am now and always will be a reformed voter. And I do find it a bit offensive, James, that you say all reformed voters are racist and must be OK with racism. I have a black friend and he's all right. 03:44 Now, that may have been tongue-in-cheek, so I thought I'd possibly give you another chance. Here's another one from August. Thank God down here in Cornwall, we haven't got too many foreigners yet, but they are making their way down here in their droves. Luckily, I don't think that the Cornish people will tolerate too many of them. 04:05 I mean, it is a mystery. It's not one for this feature because this is fun and it's for nice people. 04:11 But how can you not think you're racist, mate? 04:16 I mean, that is a mystery for the ages, but keep them coming. Whatever you do, don't stop sending. I really want to see those fingers. Don't stop sending in the messages. It's 12.08. Should we get it off? Should we get going? Chris is in limb. Chris, question or answer? Hi, James. 04:30 Thanks for taking the call. I'm the first one, so it's a question. 04:35 Well, yeah, but do you know what? You could have said, oh no, answer, because I actually have a question for you. 04:42 Go on. What's the origin of limb? 04:45 It's Roman, I think. Is it? It doesn't look very Roman. Did they have a Y in Latin? L-Y-M-M, is it? 04:54 L-Y-M-M, yeah. 04:55 Yeah, no limb in Cheshire, right? 04:57 Yeah, that's right. 04:58 I've no idea what the... I mean, it's an extraordinary word, isn't it? 05:02 Yeah, an odd one, yeah. 05:03 Anyway, you have a question. What is it? 05:07 Right. Do you do any DIY at home, James? 05:10 Oh, all the time. 05:11 Right. 05:12 Ask me when I've done the boiler. I put up a little hook the other day to hang the dog lead on, and it's already fallen off. I'm just brilliant. 05:23 Okay. 05:25 So when you're doing a bit of woodwork and you want to sharpen your chisel, you sharpen it on a stone, a wet stone, okay? Every man should have one in his garage. And if you've not... 05:40 There's nothing worse than a blunt chisel. 05:45 So you sharpen your chisel on a stone or you sharpen on maybe a grinder. 05:52 And anything that's metal, a metal object, you sharpen it on a stone or a grinder or something like that. Yeah, you do. So why is it that a cutthroat razor, when you go to the barbers, Turkish barbers, have your nice shave... 06:04 He sharpened his cutthroat razor on a... 06:09 on a strop, like a leather strop. 06:10 It's another fascinating word, isn't it? Strop. A strop, a leather strop. He sharpens the razor on the leather strop. 06:18 How does that work? 06:19 Yeah, what's going on? Someone will know. Somebody clever. Some clever physicist will know. 06:26 That's not how it works, Chris. First of all, I have a half-baked attempt at answering it. Before we let any clever physicists... And also, as a former builder, I know quite a lot about tools. 06:39 Okay. But I've never worked as a barber. Not yet. 06:43 So why would a... How can leather shop... I mean, it's obviously got something to do with how fine the blade is, hasn't it? Has it? 06:50 I honestly... I don't know if it's just taken a very fine, tiny burr off. 06:55 God, you've got a vocabulary to die for. A burr. Is it a burr? 07:00 You get the burr on the strop. The strop gets the burr in limb. 07:05 Oh, this is beautiful. This is like Chaucer. 07:10 But it could be. 07:11 It's just the burr is so tiny. We don't know, do we? We've got no idea. 07:17 Basically, no. 07:18 What about your ears? What do they do with your ears in the barbers? 07:22 Oh, they burn them. Do they do that? Yeah, this is great, isn't it? 07:25 Can you go in and have just that done? 07:28 I don't. I've only ever had... Well, you wouldn't go because you've got a beard, haven't you? 07:32 Well, yeah, but I'm tying with the idea of having it trimmed to look a little bit sharper. I'm having some pictures taken next week. So they could do me like a fade and I'd get my ears done. 07:40 But that's why I never get my ears done because I do my own beard. I trim my own beard. 07:45 And I get my hair cut at quite a fancy place. My friend Tony isn't going to be putting matches in people's ears. There's a lady in the next chair having highlights. It's the last thing she wants to see is my ears catch fire. 07:56 You've got to be very, very careful with naked flames and things coming out of spray cans in ladies' hair, let me tell you, my friend. 08:03 Well, naked flames and blunt chisels, it's all going on today, Christopher. Thank you very much indeed. 08:10 How does that work, then? How can you sharpen a razor on a bit of leather? Kerry's in Halton. Kerry, question or answer? 08:17 Oh, my God. I can't believe I'm speaking to you. It's a question. 08:21 Well, you did ring in. It's not like I come and knocked on your door and surprised you, is it? 08:25 I think that you're such a hero of mine. 08:27 Oh, stop it, please. Honestly, carry on. Thank you. 08:31 My question is, as I explained to your lovely producer, I've been looking for a small child's playhouse for my dogs. So when I'm knocking out the horses, they can get in out of the rain and they can have somewhere comfy. Oh, lovely. And I started looking at Wendy houses. I want to know why are Wendy houses called Wendy houses? 08:53 I like that question. I mean, it's not beyond possibility that we've had it before and we've all forgotten. 09:00 No, that doesn't matter. I've got a feeling, Kerry, and I could be wrong, but I've got a feeling that J.M. Barrie invented the name Wendy when he wrote Peter Pan. 09:14 So it may have something to do with Peter Pan. 09:18 But what I hear you say. But what I hear you say. 09:23 I don't know. Why is it called a Wendy house? 09:26 Because it was a house built for Wendy. 09:28 Yeah, but why Wendy? I mean, it could have been an anything house, couldn't it? Especially if Wendy is a relatively recent arrival on the list of names. It just makes me think there's probably a link. But why? Did Wendy have her own house? No, she didn't, did she? She lived in... 09:44 In London? She didn't even live in Neverland. Did they build her a house in Neverland? 09:48 Did Peter build Wendy a little house in Neverland? 09:51 Imagine if someone's just tuned in expecting political analysis at this point. 09:57 Did Peter Pan build Wendy a house? I love it. Why Wendy? 10:02 Now I need to correct my notes because I've written your name down as Wendy and the question is why is it called a Kerry house? So why do you need a little house for your dogs again? 10:11 Because when I'm mucking out my horses, I just want somewhere comfy for them to go if the weather's not kind. 10:19 And it needs to be portable. 10:21 No, it doesn't need to be portable, no. 10:24 Build them a kennel or something like that, no? 10:25 A kennel, no. Oh, no, of course not. 10:28 Don't be ridiculous. We're going to get them a Wendy house. Silly old me. Of course you are. How many horses have you got? 10:35 Three. 10:35 Good Lord, what are they called? 10:37 So Molvic is my thoroughbred, and then I've got two tiny ponies, one's called Saffy and one's called Teddy. 10:43 Oh, that's lovely. And the ponies are to keep the thoroughbred company, are they, sort of? Or just they all have their own... There's a dog in the background as well saying, where's my Wendy house? And by thoroughbred, you mean you're quite a serious equestrian. 10:57 No, they're all retired, my horses. They just live a luxurious life. 11:03 Oh, good for you. I love that. Thank you, Kerry. Not Wendy. Why do we call her Wendy House or Wendy House and why do we sharpen razors on bits of leather? How does it even work? It doesn't make any sense. Everything else that we sharpen, we sharpen on stone or something very, very hard. It is 12.15. 11:21 Mystery Hour with James O'Brien. This is LBC. 11:25 It is 17 minutes after 12. Two lovely questions there, both of which are pure mystery hour, aren't they, Keith? They're classic mystery hour questions, which suggests to me that we might have had them before, but one of the great advantages of getting older is that I can't remember, which means we can do it all again as if it were new, as if it were fresh. It's like being in Grandhog Day, but only if you're not Bill Murray. No, that doesn't work either, does it? 11:51 17 after 12 is the time. Chiz is in Slough. Chiz, question or answer? Hi, James. 11:56 It's a question. It's not a motoring question, so stick with me on this. It is a motoring question. It's not. At an intersection, why is there a button for us to press to cross the road if it has to change anyway for the cars to turn? 12:14 How is this not a motoring question, Chiz? 12:16 It's from the point of view of the pedestrian. 12:22 Because also... 12:24 It's literally a question about motoring. It's a question about traffic lights and people. And traffic, which consists entirely of motors. 12:33 But the question would still be valid if the cars weren't there. 12:37 Would you excuse me for a moment? 12:42 No, it is pretty strong logic, isn't it, actually? 12:45 Even if the cars weren't there, the pedestrian and the button still would be. Yeah, and the button clearly doesn't do anything. Are you sure, though? Yes. 12:58 But I would have thought this was quite obvious, wouldn't you? No. 13:04 The answer to the question is the button just makes us feel like we're doing something. 13:09 No. So it's on a sort of... That would be insane, Chiz. Come on, man. Let's just put a button. Imagine how much it costs to put flipping buttons up and down the country just so that you feel a bit better about standing there. Way to give you something to do. They might as well have put a game on it or one of those little kind of... 13:30 It's on a timer, but if you press the button, it will stop sooner. 13:38 I don't think so. Yes, of course it is. 13:41 This has caused me a lot of... How much research have you done? Don't lie to me. 13:46 I've never Googled it because I've been trying to... Oh, I meant like real life research, out there pressing buttons and you with a stopwatch and things. 13:53 Yeah, I cycle a lot. So the perfect example is the traffic light, the one that comes up to Knightsbridge. For that one, it always... 14:02 I never press the button, especially when I cycle late at night, and it always turns green, even when there's no cars on the other side as well. So... 14:10 The button is clearly just theatre. 14:12 It's not just theatre. 14:15 I mean, there's no... I hesitate slightly to pull out Occam's razor, but it is phasing and timers that the button sort of loops, bypasses. So there would be... If you never, ever press the button, it would still stop. But if you've pressed the button, then it will stop a bit sooner. 14:35 I've tried that what do you mean you've tried that but if you've pressed it you wouldn't know when it would have stopped if you hadn't pressed it 14:46 I've tried it, and it's always the same time. No, it's not. 14:51 No, it's not. Don't gloss over that. You haven't timed it, have you? 14:54 You have not timed it. I haven't timed it. Well, exactly! I knew you hadn't timed it! 14:59 But also, the traffic light, by the time you get from the side of the mile, across through the little gate, and then you get to Hyde Park, that light turns green as well. 15:10 Do you know, I've actually noticed that when I was still riding line bikes before I fell off, smashed my head in. um all right there's no earthly way that you're right historically i have said on occasion to people that there's no earthly way that you're right and they have then to my great amusement oh sorry to my great embarrassment and keith's great amusement they have then turned out to be right but i'm i'm 90 there's no way that they are there for i love the word that you used there in fact today is turning into a veritable celebration of good vocabularies i love the idea that it's theater it's We have to be kind to people who don't press the button. 15:46 I've always feel a lot of distress when I'm like, oh, do I press it because people are looking? And then I have to press it just to partake in this theatre to make everyone else feel good. 15:54 Well, I admire your altruism and your community spirit, but I tell you what, if it doesn't serve any purpose at all, I will give you the money myself. LAUGHTER All right, cheers. You're on. So it will just be, it will just change the sequencing is my answer, but I'm not taking a round of applause because I'm even less qualified on that subject than I am on the sort of subjects where I do occasionally give myself a round of applause. Cheers. Ride carefully, please. It is 22 minutes after 12. Linda is in Normandy. Linda, question or answer? 16:23 Hello, James. I'm so pleased to be able to speak to you. It's an absolute pleasure. 16:27 I listen to you all the time. Merci beaucoup, Linda. Merci beaucoup. Thank you. 16:32 My question is, I don't have any sense of smell and haven't had for the last 50 years. I lost it when I was in my 20s and... 16:43 It's never come back. It was still an illness. It was irrelevant. I can't smell anything at all. My understanding is that we are attracted to each other as people through pheromones, which are sort of perceived up our nostrils or into our brain. 17:01 Because I don't have a sense of smell, and I'm still attracted to people... in any way. How does that work? How does that work? I've got no idea. 17:13 I mean, it's not just pheromones. 17:18 Isn't it? It can't be. 17:20 Well, no, I know. You fancy people on the telly. Yeah, of course. But, I mean, when we're attracted to someone deeply, like someone we would want to engage with and marry, for instance, I mean, I met and married my ex-husband now. 17:38 There you go. 17:41 Am I proving my point? I don't know. 17:46 But you were very attracted to it. I think you're putting too much weight on the pheromones I mean, they do what you say. They do trigger a response in people, but I think they're just one of many other things as well. I think, you know, we respond to all sorts of stimuli, not just pheromones. I bet you have a type, don't you? 18:08 Tall, dark and handsome or whatever. So that's got nothing to do with pheromones. And then people who make you laugh, thank God, making women laugh can make men very attractive. Otherwise, I'd probably still be a virgin, Linda. I've got to be completely honest with you. So there's all sorts of other things that make people attractive. 18:27 I mean, it's really sort of basic. It's sort of Neanderthal, isn't it? Yeah, it is, yeah, and I like it. It's like... dogs sniffing each other's bottoms. 18:37 Yeah, don't ever do that. So let's put pheromones on the list. So we want someone to tell us how big a part they play. 18:44 Yes. 18:44 Don't we? Because I think it's not a mystery to me how you could still be attracted to people despite not being able to actually smell them. 18:52 I think we can... Yeah, but to want to actually physically engage with them. 18:57 You're not taking my invitation to step down from this one, are you? You really think that without... Yeah, okay, fair enough. 19:03 I'm not, because... I like lots of people, but I wouldn't want to necessarily physically engage with them. Well, most definitely wouldn't want to physically engage with them. 19:12 No, but you have wanted to physically engage with people for reasons that are not to do with pheromones. 19:19 Well, I don't know. That's my question. Or maybe you don't smell them. 19:21 Maybe it's different from your sense of smell, in which case this question is actually getting more interesting by the minute, isn't it? Yes, and that's why I want an answer, please, James. Right, you're on. Thank you very much, Linda. Have a lovely day. 19:33 So there it is. Do you smell? If you lose your sense of smell, do you lose your ability to respond to pheromones? And or, because I've changed all the rules over the years, and we can do a little bit of side questions now, supplementaries, life's not straightforward, life's not binary, Keith. 19:50 And or, for me, not the place where the Ewoks live, and stroke or... 19:56 Is it... Do the pheromones deliver? How big a part of what constitutes attraction is delivered by the pheromones? Ronan is in Tollcross in Glasgow. Ronan, question or answer? 20:11 Question, please, James. Carry on. 20:14 Lovely to talk to you. 20:15 My question's a little bit morbid, but you know when a body... turns up somewhere and it can't be identified and they get the name Jane Doe or John Doe in the US and I think it's like Joe Bloggs and Jane Bloggs over here. Why those names? Where do those names come from? 20:34 Oh, yeah, it's a good one. 20:37 We must have done this one before as well, mustn't we? 20:40 Why did they pick on John Doe? 20:43 Jane Doe probably. John probably came first and Jane came second. But what's the origin of John Doe? I don't think we use Joe Bloggs for a corpse. I don't think at the coroner's office or in the police lingo. I don't think you get Joe. I don't think Joe Bloggs. I think Joe Bloggs just means kind of... 21:02 you know, chummo, matey. It's just a random name, Joe Bloggs and his wife. The man on the Clapham omnibus is Joe Bloggs. But where does John Doe come from? I like that question. I've got a feeling we'll get an answer to that one, Ronan, but I can't make any guarantees on Mystery Hour. You know that, I hope. 21:19 Yeah, cool. Cheers, James. 21:21 Cheers, mate. Take it easy. 27 minutes after 12 is the time. 21:26 David is in Newcastle. David, question or answer? 21:29 Hi, James. Nice to speak to you. Likewise. What have you got? 21:32 Why is there an invalid Roman numeral on many, many watches and clocks in the UK? 21:40 What do you mean? 21:41 Well, 11111 is not a Roman numeral. It's 1V. No, it's 1V. You can have both. 21:48 You can have both, can't you? 21:51 No, it's not a real Roman numeral. Is it not? Of course the Romans didn't use it. It would make an absolute mockery of long numbers, wouldn't it? 21:58 Yep. 21:59 It doesn't fit in with anything. 22:01 So you've got 1, 2, 3, and then IV. 1V. And then IV. So it's got something to do with horology then, hasn't it? 22:13 Personally, I thought it may be to do with stupidity. 22:16 Because the people who made the clocks were clever people back in the day, and they thought that the peasants wouldn't get confused with the 1VV1. 22:26 That's still horology, though. That means the answer lies in... Possibly. ...watch and clockmaking, not in anything else. Well, it must do, mustn't it? Because you never... You wouldn't see it any... Yeah, you're probably right, actually. 22:38 I'm looking at a clock right now with a... What time is it? 22:43 It's about... 22:45 That's 12. Really? I've got a possible other answer for you, John Doe. No, you can't do that. The D-O-E. You can't do that. 22:54 Dead on the... How many times do I have to tell you? You can't do that. You're not allowed to do that. Once more. Tell us one. All right, good. You can't do that. You can't come on and do that. So one, two, three, four... 23:07 Why on Earth? No, you're right. Exactly that. But I bet you've answered it as well. It must just be because they were worried people wouldn't understand. Do you know the story about The Madness of George III? 23:20 Where? 23:20 The Madness of George III? I haven't seen the film. It's a good film. It's not called The Madness of George III, though, the film. Is it not? No. The play was called The Madness of George III. Was it one of Alan Bennett's? Was it Alan Bennett? But they couldn't call it The Madness of George III because all the Americans would think they'd missed the first two. 23:39 I could imagine that. I wouldn't want to watch it now, would I? Because they've got one going on themselves. 23:45 Well played, David. We'll get you an answer to your question, but I think you may have provided it yourself. So, Strop, Wendy House, Traffic Lights, Pheromones, John Doe, Roman numerals. Something for everybody. Here's Amelia Cox with the headlines. 24:01 This is LBC Mystery Hour with James O'Brien. Call 0345 6060 973. 24:10 It's top 34. You're listening to James O'Brien on LBC. Questions that need answers. How come you can sharpen a razor on a piece of leather? Why are Wendy houses called Wendy houses? Why do they have buttons on the traffic lights at intersections? Because the lights are going to go red anyway. What does the button do? 24:29 If you've lost your sense of spell, do pheromones still work on you? Why do we call or the Americans call dead bodies John Doe's? And I think I was right to question the parameters of David's question because someone's just sent me a picture from what appears to be the Coliseum. 24:45 in Rome. And there is a gate that has four eyes above it, as in four in Roman numerals. I'm pretty sure that I was actually drawing upon my classical education when I suggested to David that you can actually write the number four in latin is either iv as as we would say or i i i i in fact given that he was a geordie i should have gone with i i i i mon but i didn't i missed that joke at the time and there's nothing worse than esprit d'escalier uh those are questions that all need answers jim's in witness jim question or answer it's an answer james come on jim 25:23 Thanks for taking me call, James. Nice to speak to you. Likewise. My pleasure. It was the question over the cutthroat razor. Oh, yes. 25:32 I did appreciate some of the things that the guy was talking about fumbling. The strop is used on the cutthroat razor just to give it a keener edge. But when the edge eventually goes, it'll still have to be sharpened on a stone. 25:48 Ah. 25:48 So he was probably right about little burrs. 25:52 It's exactly right on little birds, because if you have ever shot in the chisel, you do use an oil stone to shot in the chisel. Right. The stone is usually made of carbon on them, and you can get different grades of smoothness. 26:06 On a chisel, for a different quality of work. 26:10 When you sharpen the chisel, the young stone is usually double-sided. You have a rough side and a smooth side, so it just gives it a keener edge. But then you have to do take, for example, if you were sharpened a chisel or a plain blade, you would turn it over on its flat side to take the burr off. 26:30 Okay. Okay. 26:32 Right. 26:32 So there's two stages of sharpening, really. 26:35 There can be, you know, depending on how keen the edge you want. Now, using a leather strop, you'd want a really keen edge. 26:44 Yes. 26:45 Because a face is not a piece of wood, so you need it to be even smoother than a chisel or a plane would ever be, really. 26:52 Yes. And of course, as you can appreciate, a chisel or a plan of bled will need shiapening more often because of the, you know, it's going against wood. 27:01 Perfect answer. What are your qualifications? Go on. 27:04 Sorry, I'm behind a bite red, so I'm used to shiapening chisels. But we did on occasion use cutthroat rages for cutting... 27:14 laminates, doing marquetry and things like that. Of course. And you do actually, you could even do it on your hand. 27:23 The old saying about horny-handed sons of child. Yeah, that's right. You could take the bird off with your hand. 27:30 With a bit of thick skin. 27:31 Yeah, so obviously with leather, it just keeps the blade keen. But eventually it will need shatting on a stone, maybe a wet stone. 27:42 And that's why, actually, now you've come to mention it, I remember once when I was in the hairdressers, Actually, in one of those, I mean, I say hairdressers, it was a barber's that was very fancy. And the bloke was coming later that day to sharpen everything. So you do need to do that, even though they might be able to do the razors between jobs, as it were, on the leather. Every now and then they'll need to get the stones in to do it. Probably a beautiful answer. Is there a special plane, Jim? 28:12 Can you plane the bottom of a door without taking it off the hinges? 28:17 Yeah, there's a device that is made now. I mean, I've never used one before. I just took the door off. It's not as easy as you make it sound. 28:30 I know, but that's so exhausting. I was on my hands and knees. It is exhausting. I've got one of those mats in a hole, you know, like when your doormat is a bit below the level of the rest of your hole. 28:42 Yes, yes, yes. 28:43 So I take the mat out and I get the door over the hole and I'm sanding away underneath and I'm scuffing my knuckles and I'm getting tired. There must be a plane to do that job. 28:53 There is a device. 28:55 A device. 28:56 I wouldn't say it was a plan. You're looking down your nose at it. 28:59 You're looking down your nose at it, Jim. I can tell, aren't you? 29:01 James, get a joiner in. 29:02 Get a joiner in. I've already done that. I just didn't know whether... Because he came while I was out and I didn't know whether he used a device or whether he took the door off the hinges and then put it back on again. Because you can't do that on your own, can you? It's a big old front door, mine. You can't take it off the hinges and put it back on again without a bit of help. 29:20 Well, no. It might be a true man's job depending on the size of the door. Exactly that. 29:23 Jim, you're a star. Have a round of applause on me. Thanks very much, Jim. Top joinery banter there as well with me and Jim. Could have gone on all day. Reminds me of my days on the sites. Helen's in Edinburgh, site singular. Question or answer, Helen? 29:36 Oh, hi. 29:37 Right, it's a question. Carry on. 29:39 Okay, when is something, a piece of information, considered to be general knowledge? 29:45 Ah, yeah. I mean, it's a tricky one, this, I think, because I think mastermind throws us a bit because you have a specialist subject. 29:55 But a lot of questions that are in your specialist subject in mastermind could also pop up in general knowledge. So I think the only distinction really is that when you're doing a specialist subject round, everything has to be about that. But every specialist subject question could conceivably be, apart from the very esoteric ones, could conceivably be a general knowledge question. And even the very esoteric ones could be general knowledge questions if it was really hardcore quizzing. 30:23 Okay. 30:24 Well, you don't sound very enthusiastic. 30:26 I was just listening to a quiz on the radio the other day, and I just thought, how have the people that put these quizzes together, how do they decide that this question is widely enough known, the answer, that we can reasonably include this in a general knowledge quiz? 30:42 Oh, okay. Yeah, I don't think my answer quite reaches that, does it? No. It doesn't quite work. 30:46 No. 30:47 Okay. Oh, you're on then. Who decides whether it's general knowledge or not, as opposed to specialist knowledge? That's a shame, because I thought you were going to say, James, what are your qualifications? 30:57 Oh, I know that you've been on. We saw it. 31:00 Oh, all right. I wasn't just on it, Helen. 31:04 Oh, no, you won it. 31:05 Of course you did. I didn't just win it, Helen. Oh, you didn't just win it? I got one of the highest scores in celebrity mastermind history. I didn't know that. No. I think Sheila did as well, actually. We must compare notes. But it's ended now. They've axed it. So I will never go on it again. Normally, they get you back on if you won after four or five years. 31:23 Oh, right, OK. You're teaching me a lot. I didn't know that. 31:25 That's what Mystery Hour is all about, Helen, although on this occasion, no rounds of applause for either of us. Who decides, or how is it? If you're a quiz setter, and you need to be at a certain level, who decides what's general enough? I quite like that. I'll be surprised if we get an answer, though. Phyllis is in Ramsey in Cambridgeshire. Phyllis, question or answer? It's a question, Jane. Carry on, Phyllis. 31:47 I've been a fan and a listener. of yours for many many years i have a question yes and um it is why are blue bottles called bottles oh because they are a bit blue well no you see most of them are you see more green than blue ones these days i did once many years ago see a gold one shining in the sun i've never seen one since um must have been the angles i reckon Well, it was lovely. 32:19 And I wondered why they're called bottles. 32:22 Bottles? 32:24 Yes. No, I'm just thinking in the hope of something popping into my head unexpectedly. 32:29 I've been wondering about this... No, you can get bronze ones, actually. I don't know. Why are they bottles? Is it Old English? A bottle, a bottle. 32:38 Well, it sounds like it could be a corruption of an old word. 32:42 But... 32:45 I've wondered it for not as long as I've been listening to you, but for a good many years. 32:50 Well, we must find out for you. That's very kind of you, Jane. Well, I shall do my best for this. I can't make any promises. But, yeah, a bottle doesn't make any sense in the context of a fly, really, does it? Well, I don't think so. 33:01 No. Anyway. Yeah. 33:03 It's been lovely to talk to you. Thank you very much, James. 33:05 Well, it's been lovely to talk to you. You don't meet many Phyllises these days, so it's been a particular pleasure to talk to you, Phyllis. 33:12 Thank you. It was my mother's name for me. 33:14 It's a lovely name. It's a lovely name, Phyllis. The comeback starts here. 33:19 A lot of the other names have come back, haven't they? You didn't, Mike, add an anti-lily. We never used to meet a lily. Ivy hasn't come back. That was my grandma's name. Phyllis is a lovely name. 33:28 I'd love to know Phyllis. I'm not keen on it. I do like to be called Phil. 33:32 Phil. All right, Phil. 33:34 May I call you Phil? You certainly can, James. 33:37 Well, thank you, Phil. Thank you so much. Thank you so much, and have a lovely day. And why do we call blue bottles bottles? They can be blue, although, as Phil pointed out, not always, but why on earth do we call them bottles? I need some answers. Let's get another question on first, though. Leslie's in Glasgow. Leslie, question or answer? 33:55 Hi, James, there's a question. 33:56 Carry on, Leslie. 33:58 Can I just say quickly first, my mother-in-law's name was... 34:02 It's a nice name. 34:03 Just as an aside, it was actually Philomena. 34:05 Oh, okay. Oh, crikey, who knew? There's so many different variations on the Philomena, Phyllis, Phil. 34:12 Yeah. 34:13 Love it. 34:14 Go on. So my question is, when you're absolutely bursting for the toilet, maybe you've been out all day, you haven't been to the toilet, and it's cold, or you get up first thing in the morning... You get to the toilet and your eyes start to water. 34:29 Why do your eyes start to water? 34:32 Do they? 34:34 Yeah. 34:35 I'm just going to do that. Do yours? Do you recognise this? Mine do. No, not you. I know yours do. Obviously, otherwise you wouldn't have rung in and asked the question. I'm just checking with Keith. 34:43 Do your eyes water when you're desperate? Eleanor, do your eyes water when you're desperate for the room? 34:47 Do you mind me asking? This isn't an HR issue. No, not at all. 34:49 Not at all. Gotcha. 34:52 Really, really desperate. Yeah, really, yeah. Aren't you in pain, mate? I mean, it's not an overflow, is it? That would be biologically dangerous. 35:02 Third one, but yeah, I don't think it diverts. 35:05 No, all right, you're on. I mean, your eyes water when you're in pain, don't they? So it may be just the pain of it. 35:10 Yeah. Well, no, even if it's not painful, and sometimes it's just as soon as you start to go... 35:19 Yeah, you're on. Yeah, you're right. It does. Okay, you're on. I mean, I don't know who's going to know the answer to that, but you never know your luck. Someone might. Thank you, Leslie. 03456060973. 35:30 Oh, that's good news. Great news, in fact. Ivy is already making a comeback. It's a lovely name. And Gren's 10-year-old is called Ivy, and she's not the only Ivy in her year. There you go. So just Phyllis now. We need to get Phyllis back on the popularity stakes. 35:47 Mystery Hour on LBC with James O'Brien. Call 0345 6060 973. 35:55 12.48 there. Missed another joke, of course, with the IV and the name and the Roman numerals. And well done to everybody who got that joke. And just before we go back to the switchboard, what do you think the thing was today that I said that prompted more response? So I spend a lot of my life working very hard to bring you really coruscating political analysis and world-leading polemics. And you respond to me... 36:25 Not so much on the phones, to be fair, but my inbox will go absolutely bonkers over the most ridiculous and trivial things. What do you think I've done today that prompted the biggest response? 36:39 It's not a quiz, I'm going to tell you. I got my Ewoks a bit skewed with it. 36:46 so ewoks are not from andor as i said although that is a star wars franchise isn't it and a star wars latin and i don't even know if they're from endor um because endor is like a forest moon so they are from it is yeah they are they're from anyway that's the thing that you all decided to email me about or rather i don't i don't really see my emails but to text and whatsapp me about in numbers that dwarf anything else that's happened on the program today a tiny little mistake about the name of the home planet of Ewoks that's what you care about so tomorrow on the show at 10 o'clock we're going to open with what's your favorite planet in Star Wars and why and it has to be one that still exists it can't be one that Darth Vader blew up from the death no I'm joking Vanessa's in Battlefield Vanessa question or answer answer James carry on Vanessa it's about the Roman numerals oh yeah 37:41 Yes. So in and around the 14th century, the Roman numerals were actually updated. 37:51 Really? 37:52 So before that point, it was, I was used from one to four. I, I, I, I, man. Yes. And then nine was the I, I, I, I. 38:06 And then around the 14th century, because of the rise in influence in Arabic language and alphabet and numerals, it was changed to IV and IX. 38:20 So both work then? So was it never ever IV in Roman times? No, before that. 38:28 The original sundials, the original clocks all had I, I, I, I and the I, I, I, I. Ah, so I was actually right. 38:37 Yes. And David was actually wrong. 38:40 It was to do with an update in the language. It was competing with Arabic and Hindu. 38:47 And it just got too confusing, really, for punters to see all the eyes on the board. 38:53 Especially around the late Middle Ages, you had an influx in people learning to read. 39:00 Yes, of course. 39:02 so that's when everything started going downhill vanessa why they continue to be used is one it's it's a throwback to the original sundials and two it's a kind of stylistic choice because my um my uncle was a watchmaker and he always loved the original uh yeah aesthetics yeah it looks nice qualifications I do historical reenactments. 39:27 And you live in Battlefield? 39:29 Yes. Oh, do be quiet. 39:30 That's ridiculous. 39:33 It's a weird coincidence. But yeah, I live in Battlefield in Glasgow. And yeah, we do historical reenactments of Scotland. And then we go down to Wales for the big UK one. What era? 39:47 I do, in Scotland, we do 13th century and pre-13th century. And then when we go broader in the UK, it's 16th, 17th, 18th century. 39:57 So you don't do Culloden then? 40:00 No, I would love to do Culloden. 40:02 That's 18th century, I think. So what remind me of some battles from the 13th century? 40:09 It was the Battle of Independence, the original King Robert the Bruce. 40:14 of course it was yeah of course we're back in scotland now and what what do you dress up as if you don't mind me asking what were the weapons of choice in the 13th century children's mainly um but we are we when we're doing so linisco is one of our biggest shows uh where you go to linisco castle and we dressed up we have a little medieval village for people to visit and we do calligraphy and games and everything else so it's it's really really cool 40:39 What larks. I love it. Is there a name of the organisation that you do this with or not? 40:42 For us, I'm part of Saltire Society, but it's the Historic Environment Scotland. 40:48 Love it. I can see how much fun that must be. Have a round of applause on me. Thank you. No, thank you. Give my regards to Battlefield. James is in Milton Keynes. James, question or answer? 40:59 Answer. 40:59 Come on then. 41:01 Right. Thanks for taking my call. The answer is in relation to your traffic light conundrum, which is actually quite simple when you know. 41:07 Yeah, I thought so. 41:08 So traffic lights, they control red, amber, green. So northeast, southwest, easiest way to remember it. If you're traveling north to south, your lights are green, you go. The other ones are red. And when they turn red, you go north to south, you can carry on. If you want to cross, you have to press the button to override the sensors so that they know someone's waiting to cross. Because if you were crossing one side of the road when the east to south were driving towards you, they can turn left or right and could drive straight into your path while you're crossing the road. So what the button does is override all the sensors or the loops so that it holds everything on red in all directions so you can cross safely. 41:43 Even though it would stop anyway. 41:48 No, because one direction would stop, north to south would stop, but east to west would then be green and carry on. 41:54 No, I know, I know. But it would stop at some point in the future anyway. 41:57 Yeah, but you would always have someone... I know, listen. 42:01 This was a stupid question, wasn't it? 42:05 Well, I don't want to call that person stupid. 42:08 It's only Chiz. You can call him stupid if you want. I liked Chiz, to be fair, but the question is absolutely shocking. 42:17 I mean, what are they for? He thought they were for theatre. And now I've got people messaging me saying, I think you'll find that the buttons in the lift that tell you the doors are going to close don't actually close the doors, which I know is not true. I think it might be true in the United States or something, but I was in a hotel on Saturday in Leeds and it definitely worked. I mean, I categorically know that it worked because I used it quite a lot. But anyway, qualifications? 42:39 Yes. 42:39 I'm a roads policing officer. There you go. So you were sort of thinking, is it worth ringing in on this? Because it's such a daft question, but then no one's answered it, so I may as well get in there and fill my boots. 42:48 Yeah, well, last thing I was, someone's cross the road thinking that they're safe and they get run over. 42:52 That's very true. Remind us, this is actually quite a serious subject, Chiz, for heaven's sake. Have a round of applause on me, James. 42:58 Thank you, Jane. 42:59 Thank you very much. 43:01 Jane is in Derby. Jane, question or answer? 43:03 It's an answer. 43:04 Carry on. 43:05 It's the one to the Wendy house. You were partly right, it is J.M. Barrie, and was named, obviously, after Wendy, because when she arrived in Neverland, she was shot down, I believe, by a lost boy called Tootles. 43:18 I played Wendy in a play, so when she was shot down... 43:21 When you say in a play, you mean in Peter Pan? 43:24 In Peter Pan, yeah, sorry. 43:26 It would be a bit weird if you played her in a different play. Well, I played many. Yeah, but only one Wendy. 43:32 Yeah, only one Wendy. 43:32 There's only one Wendy, Wendy. Go on. 43:35 And while she was injured on the floor, she was singing a song, how she would like to be protected, and they built a house around her. In a tree? 43:45 No, on the floor. She was on the floor. 43:46 So they built Wendy a house? Yes. And it's called a Wendy house. 43:50 And it's called a Wendy house. 43:51 And Dan Barry invented the name Wendy. 43:54 Well, kind of, kind of, because I was a very nosy child, and my school teacher then, Mr Griffin, I asked, because he asked, while we did the play, has anybody got a Wendy house we can use as a prop? And I said, I do. So we used my Wendy house as a prop in the play. Oh, how lovely. And they said, I asked why is that? Oh, and I thought, oh, is that why it's called a Wendy house? And he told me the story of, you know, why it was called a Wendy house. And Wendy was, I think Jay and Barry was called Wendy by a friend. I don't know. It used to be a derogatory term as it is now. 44:25 You're right, Wendy. 44:27 Is it? 44:28 I've never heard that before. 44:29 I've seen all those. When I was on Twitter, I used to see all the derogatory terms in the world chain on a daily basis. No one ever called me a Wendy. No. 44:36 Have you not? I'm from Coventry originally. It's very common there. Wendy? You're a right Wendy. Yeah. You're a right Wendy. Yeah, it means a bit of a wimp. Does it? 44:47 I think Wendy was invented by J.M. But anyway, none of that matters. Is it Mr. Griffin that is your qualifications for answering this question? 44:53 Mr. Griffin, yes. 44:54 I mean, it's not exactly the Chamber's English Dictionary, is it? But you can have a round of applause because it fits with what I thought was the case. I thought there might be a house in a tree, though. Paul says, this is Ray Liotta territory. Are you listening on catch-up, mate? She played Wendy in a play. She didn't write it. She's not J.M. Barrie's great-great-granddaughter, Wendy. Honestly. Steve's in Portsmouth. Steve, question all right. Make it snappy, mate. 45:18 I know, I've been told. It's your answer to pheromones. It's a bit longer one, but I'll try and shorten it as quickly as you could. 45:24 Well, you've wasted 10 seconds now. Go on with it. 45:27 Yeah, well, it was part of the research I did for my PhD into the chemical signal in between cells. 45:34 Right, right. 45:35 And people with anosmia, that's people without any sense of smell, still have attraction because human attraction is not driven by pheromones. 45:44 Oh. 45:45 We have a special organ in the nose called a vomorezo nasal organ. 45:50 And it doesn't really work. It doesn't work the same way like other mammals. Oh, okay. Most of our ways, we do it through visual, auditory... 45:58 I kind of thought, so what do the pheromones do for us then? 46:02 Nothing, really. They really mind that there is no actual evidence that we've found that says that pheromones actually cause attraction in humans. 46:14 Well, there you go. Qualifications, you did your PhD in. Have a round of applause. 46:19 Steve, before you go, what's it called, anosmia? Anosmia. Anosmia. How do people with anosmia smell? 46:29 Terrible. 46:30 Yay! And that's it for another day. I see. I've got trust in my listeners. Who gets it? Oh, I don't know. I find this so draining. Linda. Linda, the pheromones lady. She can have it. Because she was lovely. Oh, she was in Normandy. We can't say... Oh, the battlefield lady. 46:47 Why do I always pick ladies? It's weird. 46:49 That's it for another day. And if you missed any of it, you can listen back on Catch Up on Global Player and in all the other places as well. There's lots of podcasts and, you know, and that and the other. And the app is free. Four o'clock, Tom Sawbrick. And now it's time for Sheila Fogarty. 47:05 This has been a Global Player original production.