Question: In various episodes, Steve Zodiac, Venus and Matt use odd slang, such as "tootie" and "tooties" and "toot," usually in a demeaning or disparaging way. Venus says, "I'm a tootie!" when she forgets to make the coffee, for example, and Steve says "I'm a tootie!" when he forgets to press a certain button or something. In at least one episode, Matt is called "a cheating old toot." I gather that saying "toot" or "tootie" is like saying "fool" or "doofus" or something similar. Is this slang that producer Gerry Anderson just arbitrarily dreamed up? Or is it part of an English dialect that I've never heard elsewhere?
Question: When exactly was Harold born? Throughout the whole show, both Harold and Albert give conflicting answers about Harold's age. For example, Albert states that Harold was born in 1932, yet in earlier seasons, it's said that Harold fought in World War 2. Could someone please explain?
Chosen answer: There is no definitive answer. In the original run of the series in the early sixties, Harold was given a birth year of 1925, matching that of Harry H Corbett, who played him, making him old enough to have fought in the war. When the show was brought back in the early seventies, his birth year was, for no immediately obvious reason, revised to 1932.
Answer: Been living in the UK, man and boy, for 70 years and "tootie" is not a word we have ever used. So why Gerry Anderson uses it is a complete mystery.