I’m sure that those of you who listen to Test Match Special will have become used, over the years, to Geoffrey Boycott’s habit of prefixing almost any technical term with the phrase “what I call“. I think he began by using it to refer to some catchphrase of his own (e.g. “The Corridor of Uncertainty”), but it seems to have developed into a kind of obsessive verbal tic, so that he finds himself saying things like “What I call the bowler is handing what I call his sweater to what I call the umpire”.
This also finds its way into print, as in this example from the Telegraph –
“I also think India’s batsmen must target Tillakaratne Dilshan’s gentle off spinners and the same goes for Rangana Herath, the left-arm spinner, because you just can’t allow what I call two ordinary bowlers to tie you down.”
and this (from Pak Passion) – he’s talking about Shoiab Akhtar –
“It’s a gift to be able to bowl fast, genuinely what I call really fast.”
But I realised, listening to his commentary on the last Test Match, that he seems to have retired the phrase, and replaced it with “what we call“. Now perhaps someone at the BBC might have suggested that he was beginning to sound a little – what I call – egocentric – or perhaps someone has pointed out another resemblance …
The Crimson Rambler 
I’ve never seen that episode – fantastic.
Patricia Hodge nearly crashed into my car once in Chelsea. I was driving home with due care and attention from Earl’s Court and she came hurtling out of a side street and nearly stove in the passenger wing of my bile green Ford Fiesta. I honked my horn, she showed me one fifth of her exquisitely manicured right hand and pulled out in front of me anyway.
What a rotter! Supports my theory that she’s related to G. Boycott.
I wonder whether GB knows that there’s now a block of flats in Leicester named after him. It’s at The Wickets, next to the old county ground in Aylestone Road. Another block is named after Botham.
It’s what I call a marketing cock-up.
If he does know about it I’d guess he’s asking for royalties. Not an attraction, though, really – the Hanse Cronje block, perhaps?
I did have a look at this development when they were building it, and it struck me as an odd idea. I quite like the idea of being able to watch Electricity from my bedroom window, but I wouldn’t have thought it would generally be seen as added value.