Thinking man's crumpet

In British English, the term "thinking man's crumpet" refers to any woman who is intelligent and good looking, particularly one who has a high profile in the broadcast media. It derives from the slang "crumpet" to refer to a woman who is regarded as an object of sexual desire, which is itself an association with the crumpet, a baked product usually eaten warm after being toasted and spread with butter. [ [http://www.worldwidewords.org/topicalwords/tw-cru1.htm Crumpet] , from World Wide Words.]

Perhaps the first person to be considered "thinking man's crumpet" was Joan Bakewell, christened thus by humorist Frank Muir following her appearances in high-brow television discussion programmes such as BBC2's "Late Night Line-Up". [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2003/10/05/bobak05.xml&sSheet=/arts/2003/10/05/bomain.html An affair to remember] , "The Daily Telegraph", 5 October 2003.] The term has subsequently been applied to high-profile women such as Anne Gregg, [http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article1369575.ece Obituary] , "The Independent", 9 September 2006.] Joanna Lumley, and Felicity Kendal, and, more recently, Helen Mirren [ [http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article1311224.ece Helen Mirren: A real drama queen] , "The Independent", 3 September 2006.] and Gillian Anderson. [ [http://www.foxhome.com/trustno1/low/behind/b4main.html The X Files Uncovered] , Fox Home Entertainment.] In a poll in the "Radio Times" in 2003, Nigella Lawson received the most votes to be the readers' "thinking man's crumpet", [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/bbcworldwide/worldwidestories/pressreleases/2003/09_september/rt_80.shtml Press Release] , BBC Worldwide, 22 September 2003.] with Carol Vorderman in second place. [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0903436/bio Biography] of Carol Vorderman from IMDb.]

The phrase is occasionally reversed, to refer to "thinking "woman"'s crumpet".

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