Glenda Slagg is a fictional

parodic A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

columnist in the British satirical magazine ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satirical and current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely recognised for its prominent critici ...

''. She first appeared in the mid-1960s. Slagg's writing style is a pastiche of several female columnists in British newspapers, notably

Jean Rook Jean Kathleen Rook (13 November 1931 – 5 September 1991) was an English journalist dubbed ''The First Lady of Fleet Street'' for her regular opinion column in the ''Daily Express''. She was also, along with Lynda Lee-Potter, a model for th ...

and

Lynda Lee-Potter Lynda Lee-Potter (; 2 May 1935 – 20 October 2004) was a British journalist. She was best known as a columnist for the '' Daily Mail''. Early years Lynda Higginson was born into a working-class family in the mining town of Leigh, Lancas ...

. Slagg is depicted as brash, vitriolic, and inconsistent. She has become an archetype of British journalism. Slagg's column usually takes the form of several paragraphs lauding people in the news that fortnight, each followed by a paragraph deriding the people she has just praised. For example, she will begin "Hats off to

Anne Robinson Anne Josephine Robinson (born 26 September 1944) is an English television presenter and journalist. She was the host of BBC game show '' The Weakest Link'' (2000–2017). She presented the Channel 4 game show ''Countdown'' from June 2021 to Jul ...

!" and follow it later with "Anne Robinson? Aren'tchajustsickofher!" Slagg finishes her column by listing, with heavy sexual

innuendo An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion ...

, the men in the news she finds attractive that week, often using a variation on her catchphrase "Crazy name, crazy guy!?!" before signing off with "Byeeeee!!!!". Her characteristic style also includes overuse of

exclamation mark The exclamation mark, , or exclamation point (American English), is a punctuation mark usually used after an interjection or exclamation to indicate strong feelings or to show emphasis. The exclamation mark often marks the end of a sentence, f ...

s and

question mark The question mark (also known as interrogation point, query, or eroteme in journalism) is a punctuation mark that indicates an interrogative clause or phrase in many languages. History In the fifth century, Syriac Bible manuscripts used ...

s, and saying "Geddit!!??!" whenever she makes a joke.''Private Eye''
Issue 652, Pressdram, 1987, page 21 She is often fired and rehired by "Ed" ( the editor) in the space of a paragraph.

References

{{Private Eye Private Eye Works published under a pseudonym