Many years ago I worked on the Trent Polytechnic building as an electrician and at lunchtime two or three or four of us used to go for a pint in the Dophin on North Church Street. One day one of the lads who lived in the Meadows told us it was his wife's birthday so we asked him what he had bought her, "An om pom" he said. A what? "an om pom" he said, what's an om pom? We asked. You know, he said, one of them kits a woman uses to do 'er own 'air. The rest us fell about laughing when we realised he mean a "Home perm".