Recurring in-jokes in ''Private Eye''

The fortnightly British satirical magazine Private Eye has long had a reputation for using euphemistic and irreverent substitute names and titles for persons, groups and organisations and has coined a number of expressions to describe sex, drugs, alcohol and other aspects of human activity. Over the years these names and expressions have become in-jokes, used frequently in the magazine without explanation. Some have passed into general usage and can be found in other media and everyday conversation.

Euphemisms

Stereotypical and exaggerated personifications of people and organisations

Lord Gnome, as well as being a media magnate, is regularly referred to as having other business interests. Special offers from "Gnomemart" frequently appear in the magazine, which also carries an occasional column called "The Curse of Gnome", chronicling the subsequent misfortunes of those who have in the past taken legal action against the publication. In 1993, during the only televised ceremony for Private Eye's Bore of the Year Awards ("the Boftys"), Lord Gnome (played by Peter Cook) made a brief appearance on a satellite hook-up from his yacht, pushing a member of the yacht's crew overboard in a parody of Robert Maxwell's death. The word "Gnome" may refer to the Gnomes of Zurich. Occasionally Lord Gnome is an oblique reference to editor Ian Hislop. In the sporting world, Lord Gnome CC is a nomadic cricket side, founded in 1963, that is named after the fictitious proprietor.

From the message boards

"From the message boards" is a parody of on-line discussion threads (especially those of BBC Radio 5 Live) whose users publish their comments using pseudonyms and are usually notable for extreme political or social attitudes expressed in poorly written English. The feature includes several recurring characters:

Names intentionally misspelled or misstated

Jibes aimed at individuals

Spurious surrealism

Towards the end of each issue, the magazine contains increasingly surreal jokes, references and parodies. Many of these have developed over time, and are thus now very familiar to long-term readers.

References

  1. 1 2 Adrian Room Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase and Fable, London: Cassell, 2000, pp. 714–5
  2. Carol Natukunda (28 April 2013). "Princess Bagaya was fired for refusing to marry Amin". New Vision, Uganda. Retrieved 13 January 2014. Later that day, Amin announced that he had fired Bagaya for embarrassing him. He told his cabinet that while on her way from New York, Bagaya had a sexual escapade with a white man in a bathroom at an airport in Paris. He did not mention who this man was."This was both an insult and a deliberate lie, but it was also comically nonsensical. One may, I suppose, have sex anywhere — but a public toilet?" asks Kyemba, adding that they all "laughed to tears" at Amin’s absurd action. Bagaya’s dismissal came on 28 November 1974
  3. History, A (7 January 2006). "From squiffy to blotto a lexicon of lushes". The Times. London. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  4. Nicholas Comfort Brewer's Politics, London: Cassell, 1995, p.617
  5. Peter Paterson, "Tired and Emotional: The Life of Lord George-Brown", Chatto & Windus, London, 1993, pp. 147–164 passim.
  6. W. Heath Robinson (1978), Heath Robinson at War, Duckworth, p. 56, ISBN 0-7156-1318-9
  7. "Rap is a foreign language, rules rueful judge". The Times. 6 June 2003.
  8. "Obituary: Peter Carter-Ruck". The Independent. 22 December 2003. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  9. Richard Ingrams, The Life and Times of Private Eye, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1971, p.23.
  10. Michael Shmith (17 September 2011), "No end in sight for merciless slights", The Age
  11. Dale, Iain (2010-05-10). "In Conversation with Andrew Neil". Total Politics. Retrieved 2012-09-07.
  12. 1 2 Riddell, Mary. "Non-stop Neil, at home alone". British Journalism Review. Retrieved 2006-03-14.
  13. "The strange world of Evgeny Lebedev". The Spectator.
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