Kai Watch '08

Kai Laddiman (of Countdown octochamp fame) today won his quarter final bout, advancing towards the semis. It was a damn close run thing- early on, he debated about declaring a 9 of 'moraliser', instead putting forward the 8 of 'moralise', before going be down 30-37. He retook the lead with a couple of nifty words before losing it again, going into the last numbers round 72-73 down. Thankfully he won the numbers to go into the crucial conundrum 82-73 up, and we all know how good Kai is at conundrums- he got all 8 during his octochamp run. The lights were dimmed; you could hear hearts pounding. The letters came up; CLASSRIDE. The clock started...

...and finished. Nobody got it, not even anyone in the audience. Here's the reason- the word was 'laserdisc'. Uhuh. I thought we were onto blue ray now? Anyway, Kai is back in action tomorrow on C4 at 3.30pm, verbally fighting for a place in the grand finals. Go Kai!

On another note, the gorgeous Susie Dent's origin of words were good today. I particularly liked hotch-potch and balderdash. These used to be known as (respectively) a crazy mixed stew and a crazy mixed drink; now they mean a crazy mixture and rubbish. However, WOTD has to go to Jo Brand's 'borbarigmus', meaning the 'rumbles of the stomach'. Following a bit of investigation, borbarigmus is usually an accompaniment to the 'collywobbles'- stomachache.

I love Countdown!