IN this era of political correctness - some may say political correctness gone mad - Sir Rod Stewart is making a stand for ‘terms of endearment’ he believes should be here to stay.
Terms such as…?
One of his most famous songs was memorably ‘I Don’t Want To Talk About It’, but Sir Rod has been talking away, getting a few things off his chest, complaining about the new woke era that he says leaves him feeling he is not “allowed” to call anyone “darling” or “love”. Or with his Scottish ancestry, perhaps he might throw in the occasional “hen” into his chat? Perhaps not.
But he does love to call people love?
The veteran rocker - whose new album, The Tears of Hercules is out on November 12 - told The Daily Star that he uses the affectionate names for everyone, including Sir Elton John, saying he means no offence and sees no problem with using them. He said: “You’re not allowed to call anybody ‘darling’ or ‘love’ – that’s all out the window now.”
But he wants to carry on?
“I think that they are friendly terms,” Sir Rod said, “as long as it’s not shouting across the road, ‘Allo, darling, what you got in that basket?’ All the girls in my band I call darling and I don’t think their husbands or boyfriends are offended. I call men friends darling. I call Elton darling.”
Has he ever been lost for words?
It seems the Maggie May singer has indeed struggled at very specific times. The 76-year-old London-born honorary Scot - whose father hailed from Edinburgh - went on to say that “sex was always too much for me, it was always there, and it became boring…there were a lot of beautiful women, but we had nothing to say at the end of the evening.”
Rod’s not the only ‘darling’ fan?
Just last month, Richard Madeley called a female guest on Good Morning Britain ‘darling’ during a discussion about the suitability of Netflix show, Squid Game, for children, saying to parenting expert, Jade Evans, “Darling, let me finish the question”. Twitter was outraged, with one user branding him a “patronising dinosaur”.
However…?
Just last week, Madeley called another female interviewee darling, before during an interview with an Insulate Britain supporter, before he quickly apologised quickly saying: “Sorry to call you darling...it’s a showbiz thing, we call everybody darling. It’s a habit of mine and I find it hard to stop.” Ofcom received 51 complaints.
The most famous darling?
That could well be Captain Darling in Blackadder Goes Forth, played by Tim McInnerny, with the character’s name allowing for constant jokes, from the simple “Hello Darling” to Rik Mayall’s Lord Flasheart, who said: “Darling? That’s a funny name for a guy. Last person I called darling was pregnant twenty seconds later.”
Fab-u-lous darling!
Ah yes, the catchphrase of Strictly Come Dancing’s Craig Revel Horwood. On Twitter last December, a fan told him: “I find it very offending when you call other males darling...please stop”. The judge replied: “I’ll try darling.”
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