Better than saving Ryan’s bacon

Can anyone explain how the word “babe” has suddenly become the most overused word in Kentish English? I was in a Canterbury pub the other day and a group of four young women were using it every other sentence. When one girl’s boyfriend rang her mobile, she answered: “Hi babe.” This is an insult to the one true “Babe” – the eponymous hero of those films about a pig. Incidentally, the US film critic Gene Siskel named Babe: Pig In The City the best film of 1998 – better even than Saving Private Ryan.

“Hi. I’m Ron Actor. And like a lot of other actors I’m not getting the sort of roles I used to get. These days I have to appear in TV miniseries, sometimes even as a baddie, when I had always been the swashbuckling hero in big budget Hollywood epics. “That’s why I support charities like Save the Actors, Help the Actors, and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Actors. “This is a divided profession. Take Leonardo here, he’s one of the lucky ones. Whenever there’s a blockbuster script doing the rounds, he’s the one the studios go to. They pick him up from his house, fly him round the world in executive jets and the like. “But for other actors life isn’t that easy. Take me for example, Ron Actor, I’m just not getting the exposure I used to. “So to put myself out there and remind producers and casting agents that I haven’t died in a bathtub from a drug overdose, I’m doing these charity TV slots. “All I’m asking is that you give generously – that is, give me roles generously. “I’m Ron Actor and I approve this message on behalf of whatever charity this is an advert for.”

There’s only one Babe