Kermit, Miss Piggy and friends were on this show.

Or was he referring to the term, Richard Spanner?

 

It's not the general use, everyone I knew, grew up with etc used it in that context. Hell, my mum & wife are blue badge holders (very legit may I add), and they & us often refer to it as 'I've got me Spanner Badge' etc (Obviously wouldn't dream of saying it to someone else & they coined the phrase in the first instance).

Just wondering whether this was a Yorkshire thing, & if so how long before someone connects him to his roots & puts a different 'slant' on it !

Got a mate who uses it often but I've never thought it had much affinity with coming from Rotherham. Some words can be very specific to location indeed.

I personally never thought of it as anything other than a term of endearment, but I'm sure it can be offensive to someone.

Hey up me old spanner, and such...

I guess it all depends on who says it and to whom and in what context. Unfortunately, the world has got rather complex 'me old love'. (Sorry! Don't mean to imply you are old and disadvantaged in any way, or , that we are in an intimate relationship that might be grounds for divorce etc)