FAQ
Is Smith and Sniff scripted or planned?
No, not at all. Jonny and Richard sometimes make notes of things they want to talk about, or Jonny messages Richard and says something like 'when we record the next podcast remember to ask me about a very thin Hillman Imp enthusiast'. But that's it. From there on in, it's ad libbed. Except the random trivia at the end and the nonsense about Jonny's fake YouTube channels / Sade projects / Fish shenanigans which Richard usually notes down in advance so he doesn't have to think of something on the spot.
What's this OTSOT thing about?
OTSOT stands for 'on that side of things', a verbal tic often used by a car electrician of Jonny's acquaintance which has somehow wormed its way into the Smith and Sniff lexicon and refuses to leave. See also, 'and all that', a phrase used endlessly by a VW enthusiast that Jonny used to deal with.
And what does SSG stand for?
SSG is short for 'sweet, sweet guy' and is Jonny and Richard's way of describing anyone they like. They might have picked up this up from the late Quentin Willson who sometimes described people this way, notably the DJ Steve Wright.
Okay, now please explain cheersmatethanksmatebye.
The cheersmatethanksmatebye trope comes from the farewell issued by a man who worked in the local chip shop when Jonny was growing up.
What's the story behind going 'Guys, hey, guys, look, guys, listen' etc?
It's just a stupid way of changing the subject, possibly inspired by impressions of Tony Blair and/or a bit of Quentin Willson.
Why the obsession with the band Marillion?
Jonny likes to watch old music videos while he's brushing his teeth for reasons it's probably not worth diving into here. One day he watched one of Marillion performing Kayleigh on Top of the Pops in the '80s and mentioned on the podcast (episode 99) how ridiculous they looked. This prompted a conversation wondering what they drove back in their heyday and in the following weeks listeners began to send in unsolicited information about the Marillion fleet culminating in someone well-connected offering to find a phone number for Fish from Marillion (even though he's not in Marillion any more and hasn't been for over 30 years). After that Jonny and Richard called a Marillion amnesty and swore not to mention them. This hasn't worked out very well.
What about the long-running fixation with Sade?
This started when a listener sent in the story of buying a second-hand Ford Escort and discovering, among other things, that its CD changer contained two identical copies of Sade's Diamond Lights album. From there, Jonny and Richard began to wonder what Sade herself would drive and more than one listener responded claiming she has a Mazda RX-8, which is slightly amazing in itself. Also, Sade is cool. Why would you not want to talk about Sade?
Why do you often say 'Ford' and 'sport' in a stupid way?
In the UK the Ford Motor Company has long been based around the county of Essex. So Jonny and Richard started adopting an exaggerated Essex accent when saying 'Ford' and 'Transit' and it's now got out of hand. 'Sport' somehow got dragged along too. Probably because of the Range Rover Sport, an SUV quite popular amongst the people of Essex. This whole thing might have its roots in Richard's observation that older people from East London, many of whom moved out to Essex, could make 'war' into a four syllable word.
How do you spell the Smith and Sniff pronunciation of 'sport'?
It varies. Something along the lines of 'spowwwaaaaaaaghtaaaaaaaaaaah-uh' but it changes on a daily basis, like the currency markets. 'Ford' is probably spelt 'Fuwwwwwudddah' but, again, it's a moveable feast.
Why the fixation with 1970s aftershave, Brut?
No particular reason. Jonny just likes it and once badgered Richard into buying a bottle of it in a supermarket near Chichester. Then he ordered a lorry load of it for the Smith and Sniff merch shop, no one bought it, and they ended up giving it away at the Festival of the Unexceptional in 2024.