Finbarr Saunders
Encyclopedia
Finbarr Saunders is a comic strip
in the British
comic magazine Viz.
The strip is about a boy (Finbarr Hawtrey Saunders) who is always overhearing ambiguous conversations, usually between his divorce
d mother and their neighbour, Mr. Gimlet, with whom she always eventually ends up having sex. For the majority of the strip, Finbarr does nothing but laugh at the double entendres he hears, making noises such as "Fnarr! Fnarr!", "Warf! Warf!", "Tsssk Tsssk", "Chortle Chortle" and "K-Woo! K-Woo!", until the end where he (usually) mistakes the sounds of his mother having sex for something much more innocuous. According to Viz Holiday Special 1988, Finbarr attends Talbot Rothwell
High School, a reference to the script writer of the Carry On (film series).
A few examples of double entendres, all taken from issue 138 of Viz:
He is sometimes visited by his mother's Russia
n friend, Sergeigav whose English
pronunciation is very bad, which results in his sentences being corrupted in often lewd ways (for instance, "Your mother wants me to fetch her aerosol
" becomes "Your mother wants me to felch
her arsehole"). He first appeared in 2002, having moved to the UK
in order to improve his English. This was evidently unsuccessful - in early 2005 he appeared and claimed to have a "rock hard dick" which was "spunking now" (he actually meant that he had a "record deck" which was brand "spanking new").
Typically, the final frame of the cartoon features mother and friend going off to perform a sexual act. They even say what they are up to but this time Finbarr fails to laugh and comes up with an innocent explanation which he shares with the reader. For example, once Mr Gimlet is heard to say, "What a large crack, Mrs Saunders. Would you like me to fill it?" after a strip full of innuendo related to decoration and DIY. Finbarr deliberately takes it to mean that Mr Gimlet has found damage in the coving of his mother's bedroom, rather than the obvious sexual pun. If she has sex with Sergeigav, then his bad English is reversed and he utters seemingly polite sentences to describe his sex acts (such as asking Mrs Saunders if she likes the taste of his "cake" as she fellates him).
In March 2011, the Oxford English Dictionary
announced it had added an entry for "fnarr fnarr" as part of its regular update.
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
in the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
comic magazine Viz.
The strip is about a boy (Finbarr Hawtrey Saunders) who is always overhearing ambiguous conversations, usually between his divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d mother and their neighbour, Mr. Gimlet, with whom she always eventually ends up having sex. For the majority of the strip, Finbarr does nothing but laugh at the double entendres he hears, making noises such as "Fnarr! Fnarr!", "Warf! Warf!", "Tsssk Tsssk", "Chortle Chortle" and "K-Woo! K-Woo!", until the end where he (usually) mistakes the sounds of his mother having sex for something much more innocuous. According to Viz Holiday Special 1988, Finbarr attends Talbot Rothwell
Talbot Rothwell
Talbot Nelson Conn Rothwell, OBE was an English screenwriter.Rothwell was born in Bromley, Kent, England. He had a variety of jobs during his early life: town clerk, police officer, and Royal Air Force pilot....
High School, a reference to the script writer of the Carry On (film series).
A few examples of double entendres, all taken from issue 138 of Viz:
- When talking of his wife's antique cameraCameraA camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
, a man says; "I've spent many a hot afternoon with my face under her hood, flicking away at that button, trying to make those leathery old flaps open up." - When talking of his photo enlargerEnlargerAn enlarger is a specialized transparency projector used to produce photographic prints from film or glass negatives using the gelatin silver process, or from transparencies.-Construction:...
he says; "I've got a small Johnson, but it can enlarge to nigh on a foot when it is turned on in a darkened room" - When demonstrating how easy it is to take off the lensPhotographic lensA camera lens is an optical lens or assembly of lenses used in conjunction with a camera body and mechanism to make images of objects either on photographic film or on other media capable of storing an image chemically or electronically.While in principle a simple convex lens will suffice, in...
he says; "A few quick twists of the wrist and it comes off in a couple of seconds... Mind you I haven't had it off in ages, so it was very stiff this morning" - When talking about taking pictures of people he passes on the street, he says; "I often startle passers-by when I suddenly pull it out of my trousers and it goes off in their eyes."
- When describing the lamp in his darkroom he says; "Mine's quite large and glows red at the top"
He is sometimes visited by his mother's Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n friend, Sergeigav whose English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
pronunciation is very bad, which results in his sentences being corrupted in often lewd ways (for instance, "Your mother wants me to fetch her aerosol
Aerosol spray
Aerosol spray is a type of dispensing system which creates an aerosol mist of liquid particles. This is used with a can or bottle that contains a liquid under pressure. When the container's valve is opened, the liquid is forced out of a small hole and emerges as an aerosol or mist...
" becomes "Your mother wants me to felch
Felching
Felching is a sexual practice involving the act of sucking semen out of the vagina or anus of one's partner after sex.-Earliest appearance of the term:...
her arsehole"). He first appeared in 2002, having moved to the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in order to improve his English. This was evidently unsuccessful - in early 2005 he appeared and claimed to have a "rock hard dick" which was "spunking now" (he actually meant that he had a "record deck" which was brand "spanking new").
Typically, the final frame of the cartoon features mother and friend going off to perform a sexual act. They even say what they are up to but this time Finbarr fails to laugh and comes up with an innocent explanation which he shares with the reader. For example, once Mr Gimlet is heard to say, "What a large crack, Mrs Saunders. Would you like me to fill it?" after a strip full of innuendo related to decoration and DIY. Finbarr deliberately takes it to mean that Mr Gimlet has found damage in the coving of his mother's bedroom, rather than the obvious sexual pun. If she has sex with Sergeigav, then his bad English is reversed and he utters seemingly polite sentences to describe his sex acts (such as asking Mrs Saunders if she likes the taste of his "cake" as she fellates him).
In March 2011, the Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press, is the self-styled premier dictionary of the English language. Two fully bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989. The first edition was published in twelve volumes , and...
announced it had added an entry for "fnarr fnarr" as part of its regular update.