Here’s a story that was going to go into my 5 Other Things… post the other day, but I thought it deserved it’s own little post.
This is the news story about Flintshire County Council renaming the infamous Spotted Dick to Spotted Richard on their canteen menu due to immature comments from patrons.
Obviously, this was one of those ‘And finally…’ news stories at the end of the bulletin which your supposed to just laugh at and forget (like a cat giving birth in a hospital, or something) but no. This is me you’re talking about, and I’m not going to forget something like this.
The report is that the staff were getting annoyed by constant sniggering by customers to their canteen about the dessert that they changed the name to avoid it. It’s now called ‘Spotted Richard’ or simply a ‘Sultana Sponge’.
It’s supposed to be a little joke back to the immature people who laughed at it. But no, there’s always some little sad-act that has to complain. Councillor Klaus Armstrong-Braun who – according to the BBC – thinks it’s "Political correctness gone mad".
(That’s a phrase that’s beginning to annoy me. I hear it too often nowadays, but it’s usually someone like me saying. I don’t really say it now someone’s told me that saying it’s gone ‘mad’ is, in fact, disablist. Now I like it for it’s irony, but it’s still so cliché… but anyway…)
This guy is kicking up a fuss because it’s ‘ludicrous’ and cost money because new labels need to be made. Oh woe is me. Are you going to claim that back ten times over in expenses? *sigh*
The name for Spotted Dick comes from the spottiness the sultanas give it, along with a corruption of the last syllable of ‘pudding’ or the word ‘dough’. So it has nothing to do with the name, but it just sounds funny.
So while I’m usually the one complaining that kid’s no longer lose but rather ‘don’t win’ at running races during sports days, I’m standing up for the council on this one. It’s just a laugh. It’s rare they’re able to have a laugh, so give them a break!
Nevertheless, I’ll still giggle to myself when I see it’s name…
Heard about this and hated it! ARGHHHHH! Why do we have to tolerate them changing our culture? I heard that this may have happened a few years ago, over issues about Mince Pies not actually containing mince, and foreigners being confused… Fail.
I always LQTMS when I see it. I think Sultana Sponge is epic sounding though.