London Calling.
London Walks connecting.
This is London.
This is London Walks.
Streets Ahead. Story time. History time.
Announcement time.
Going forward – providing I’m equal to it – I’m going to open each day’s podcast with a word. Going to unpack that word. Explore it. Open it up to view. Where it comes from. What’s inside it. Your word of the day. I’m in good company here. Think of the book of John in the bible. The New Testament. The fourth and last of the four gospels. Remember how it opens. “In the beginning was the word.”
That opening is especially striking. .
Matthew starts with a genealogy. Mark plunges straight into John the Baptist. Luke begins with an address to Theophilus. But John reaches right back beyond Bethlehem, beyond Abraham, beyond creation itself:
“In the beginning was the Word…”
It’s consciously resonating with the very first words of Genesis, “In the beginning God created…” — but John takes us, as it were, to before the beginning.
So, yup – as I used to say all those years ago back in the Land of the Gathering Waters – yup, henceforth, in the beginning is the word. The beginning of every London Calling podcast. London, as always, will be the main course. But for an aperatif, in the beginning, a word. Starting here. Now. Today. Today’s word follows on from yesterday’s podcast. In it we bade farewell to our dear friend, the great Scottish actress, Phyllida Law. I closed it out with the words Ave atque vale, Philly. Ave atque vale. That’s of course the famous classical, Latin phrase. Dignified, eternal, beyond reproach, it means Hale. And farewell. You can’t put it better. But you know something, plain old Goodbye has a lot going for it. Goodbye Philly. How many of you know what you’re actually saying, deep down inside, when you say goodbye. Or even just “bye”. Or “bye bye.” If you don’t know, you’re going to like this. A lot. Here’s what the word “goodbye” is freighted with. As words go, goodbye is a treasure chest. Let’s open it up. First syllable “good” isn’t “good.” It’s “God.” Now look closely at the second syllable. “Bye.” B – y – e. Bye. Those last two letters, y-e, that’s. Ye, as you all know, is an old fashioned way of saying you. And that leaves the letter “b”. And the letter b stands for, indeed, is the word be, b-e. Doesn’t need the letter e because it’s already there when you pronounce the letter b. Now put those three elements together. First syllable “good” meaning “god”. Then the letter b meaning the word be – b-e. Then the two letters y-e – ye – meaning you. And, yes, there’s a missing word. With. It’s the ghost at our little verbal banquet. But it’s there. We supply it. It’s a thought rather than a sound. And hey presto, it,s all come into focus, hasn’t it. When you say goodbye – or even just bye – you’re saying so much more than goodbye. You’re saying, God be with you. Goodbye Philly.
Ok, main course now. London.
London Walks connecting.
This is London.
This is London Walks.
Streets Ahead. Story time. History time.
Announcement time.
Going forward – providing I’m equal to it – I’m going to open each day’s podcast with a word. Going to unpack that word. Explore it. Open it up to view. Where it comes from. What’s inside it. Your word of the day. I’m in good company here. Think of the book of John in the bible. The New Testament. The fourth and last of the four gospels. Remember how it opens. “In the beginning was the word.”
That opening is especially striking. .
Matthew starts with a genealogy. Mark plunges straight into John the Baptist. Luke begins with an address to Theophilus. But John reaches right back beyond Bethlehem, beyond Abraham, beyond creation itself:
“In the beginning was the Word…”
It’s consciously resonating with the very first words of Genesis, “In the beginning God created…” — but John takes us, as it were, to before the beginning.
So, yup – as I used to say all those years ago back in the Land of the Gathering Waters – yup, henceforth, in the beginning is the word. The beginning of every London Calling podcast. London, as always, will be the main course. But for an aperatif, in the beginning, a word. Starting here. Now. Today. Today’s word follows on from yesterday’s podcast. In it we bade farewell to our dear friend, the great Scottish actress, Phyllida Law. I closed it out with the words Ave atque vale, Philly. Ave atque vale. That’s of course the famous classical, Latin phrase. Dignified, eternal, beyond reproach, it means Hale. And farewell. You can’t put it better. But you know something, plain old Goodbye has a lot going for it. Goodbye Philly. How many of you know what you’re actually saying, deep down inside, when you say goodbye. Or even just “bye”. Or “bye bye.” If you don’t know, you’re going to like this. A lot. Here’s what the word “goodbye” is freighted with. As words go, goodbye is a treasure chest. Let’s open it up. First syllable “good” isn’t “good.” It’s “God.” Now look closely at the second syllable. “Bye.” B – y – e. Bye. Those last two letters, y-e, that’s. Ye, as you all know, is an old fashioned way of saying you. And that leaves the letter “b”. And the letter b stands for, indeed, is the word be, b-e. Doesn’t need the letter e because it’s already there when you pronounce the letter b. Now put those three elements together. First syllable “good” meaning “god”. Then the letter b meaning the word be – b-e. Then the two letters y-e – ye – meaning you. And, yes, there’s a missing word. With. It’s the ghost at our little verbal banquet. But it’s there. We supply it. It’s a thought rather than a sound. And hey presto, it,s all come into focus, hasn’t it. When you say goodbye – or even just bye – you’re saying so much more than goodbye. You’re saying, God be with you. Goodbye Philly.
Ok, main course now. London.