Book description
Dictionary: A book with a Beginning, a Middle and an End - but not
in that order.
This Septic Isle is a dictionary that re-defines 21st Century
Britain in the wickedest and wittiest way imaginable. In an age where
Spin is King, this super-cynical, irreverant reference book finally
tells it like it is, not like it isn't and never will be.
With 2,000 entries, ranging from razor-sharp satire to the downright
silly, This Septic Isle is the perfect antidote to our
irascible era. Politics, pop culture, sport, the Internet, TV, food,
the environment, journalism, sex, PR, consumerism, war, religion,
Royalty, terrorism, traffic - no subject is safe. No sacred cow is
spared a jaunt to the slaughterhouse.
Conservation - Process by which dwindling areas of natural beauty
are preserved for future generations to build
Dead - Not answering one's mobile phone or responding to emails
Empathy - The shared understanding between two people on the same
pay grade
Epidemic - The rapid and uncontrollable spread of anything
contagious through newspapers
Part-time employee - Full-time employee with a smoking habit, a
FaceBook page and an ebay account
Refrigerator - Device for keeping salad and vegetables chilled
before throwing them away unused
Threatening letters - MRSA, ASBO, OHMS, GBH, HIV, etc.
Wendy House - Play home now banned from schools for giving children
unrealistic expectations of future home ownership
Xenophobia - The Englishman's hatred of foreigners - from the Latin
words 'xenos' and 'phobos'
Mike Barfield's updated definitions put the spin in the bin and
prove there's one area in which beleaguered Britons can still proudly
claim to lead the world: laughing at their problems.
Mike Barfield is a writer and cartoonist who has lent his wit to some
of the country's most popular TV and radio programmes, writing for
performers as diverse as Chris Tarrant, Clive Andersen, Rory Bremner,
and Dennis the Menace and Gnasher. His 'Apparently...' cartoon strip has
been a regular feature in the pages of
Private Eye
for the last decade.
