A question for UK members...

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Is Karl Pilkington real?

I mean even his name.... Nobody would tolerate being called Pilkington. It's like the fakiest English name ever.

If that was a real name, we'd have place names like Pilkington State or Pilkington D.C. here in the states, but it never happened did it?

What is pilk anyway?

I bet it's something disgusting.

The best glass in the world was Pilkington Glass, a very British company thats probably owned by the Chinese now.

Of the English Karls I know, they are generally spelt Carl.

Hmm... interesting. I don't think this Karl is making fine glass...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj6RSmnVFs8[/youtube]

PS

I think Pilk is milk from a pig.

Au contraire to the TV non-personality that is Carl Pilkington (yes, his real name which is spelt here with a 'C', but before The Ricky Gervais Show, he was simply a radio presenter for xfm) the Pilkington name has had a long and illustrious history.

The earliest trace of the Pilkington name being used was back in the Middle Ages, around the 1200s. Used for a small township originally in Lancanshire, it's earliest Olde English forms (because illiteracy was commonplace, so people went by how the name was pronounced) are: Pilkiton, Pilkinton, Pulkinton (circa 1200); Pilketon, (recorded in 1221); Pilkinton, Pynkelton, Pynkilnton, (around 1277).

It wasn't standardised as Pilkington until much later. The first recorded Pilkington in history under this spelling of the name was an Alexander de Pilkington who held the manor in the township of the same name. The Pilkington family played a notable part in British history, descendants fighting in the Battle of Boroughbridge (1322), the ongoing Hundred Year War with France culminating in the battle of Agincourt (England won in 1415), and the Battle of Bosworth Field (the last major fight in the War of the Roses; an English civil war between Lancaster and York).

The township of Pilkington from whence the Pilkington family came ceased to exist in 1894. The area where it once was is now divided four ways to form parts of the towns of Pilsworth, Bury, Heywood and Unsworth.

The Pilkington name survived however and has appeared in notable instances.

For example, Pilkington Glass formed in 1826 for example (now owned by the Japanese company NSG; the acquisition was as recent as 2006); Pilkington's Group, who used to supply building materials for greater Manchester (went into administration in 2010 following the devastating effects of the Recession); the still-existing Pilkington Library at Loughbrough University, and many many people who carry the surname who have done notable things of their own merit which are too numerous to list here.

So far from just a non-personality attached to Ricky Gervais (who I'm not a fan of, at all, the US can keep him), the Pilkington name carries some significant weight and history behind it.

And for the record, the name Pilkington hasn't had any conclusive meaning behind it. I'm speaking speculatively, but I guess Pilkington could mean "The Town Of The Arrow" - comprised of a corruption of pylk, the old Germanic word for 'arrow', and ington, meaning 'the town of', a common Olde English naming device from the Middle Ages.

And there you go.

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Source - the history of the Pilkingtons of Lancanshire: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report ... mpid=53006
Source - Pilkington Glass company takeover: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4754114.stm
Source - Pilkington Group: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... oup-891962
Source - Loughbrough University: www.lboro.ac.uk/‎
Source - Pilkington Family Coat of Arms: http://www.houseofnames.com/pilkington-coat-of-arms
Source - Wikipedia notable Pilkingtons: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilkington_%28surname%29

Ahh, more interesting stuff above. You didn't have to write a research paper, but thanks.

Honestly, I'm not really a fan of Mr. Pilkington or his friends. He's a bit dull and the guy who constantly brays like a mule would not be safe if I could put hands on him.

I don't get it.

No problem. I'm sorry if I give off the air of some know-it-all braggard - it's just irritating seeing misconception thriving on unfamiliarity.

I wish more intelligent things of the UK than the likes of Carl Pilkington made the transatlantic jump; I don't understand the enduring popularity of him or his ilk either...