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Can We Help?: Plum puddings, yelks to yolks and elfs to elves

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Presenters sit on set, text overlay reads "'Why the egg white and the egg yolk? Why don't we call it the egg yellow'?"
Can We Help?: Plum puddings, yelks to yolks and elfs to elves

SUBJECTS:  English

YEARS:  5–6


Why are Christmas puddings called 'plum puddings' when they have no plums in them?

How did the egg yolk get its name and why are the plurals for 'hoof' and 'roof' are spelt differently?

Find out how Professor Kate Burridge answers these questions that the audience of 'Wise Words' send in for her.


Things to think about

  1. 1.Does your family eat particular foods to celebrate special events? Have you ever wondered why these foods are eaten and where their names originated (came from)? Do you say dwarfs or dwarves, hoofs or hooves?
  2. 2.What explanation does Professor Burridge give for why a Christmas pudding is called a 'plum pudding'? Why are there differences in the way we pluralise (make plural) similar words like roof and hoof? Why is the yellow part of an egg called the 'yolk'? What is the origin of the word 'yolk'? How was it originally spelt?
  3. 3.What does Professor Burridge mean when she says this is a case of 'old words in a new world' when explaining the origins of the name 'plum pudding'? How did JRR Tolkien influence the pluralising of words ending in 'f', such as elf? What other words did he influence? How does Professor Burridge describe this influence?
  4. 4.Interview people you know well to find out if there are any foods that they associate with particular events or celebrations such as weddings, funerals or festivals. Choose one of these foods and do some research to find out: a) why the food is associated with that particular celebration b) the origin of its name and c) whether its name still fits the food as it is prepared and presented today.



Date of broadcast: 20 Jun 2008


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