Who is Lord Grand Thumb?

Lord Grand Thumb thumbing a lift!

Downton Abbey is a huge hit for ITV. And well deserved it is too. They need hits to keep the coffers full. With upstart competition all around them, the licence to print money now in antique condition, they need to keep sales up. Even the BBC flag it up and promote the series. But there are some niggling little points about it. Julian Fellowes says he knows a thing or two about grand houses but why are there mistakes when apparently painstaking research is done? My biggest gripe is the way the Earl is referred to as "Lord Grand Thumb". Nobody would ever call him such. It would be pronounced Grant-um. My hunch is that the production company have allowed themselves to be smothered by modern vernacular. Also maybe the American audience may be something to do with it?

I know such trifles pale by comparison with other far more pressing matters of today. But niggles are niggles, aren't they?

Posted in: Downton Abbey,Earl of Grantham,ITV