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# Spiked in the 18th century
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/spiked-in-18th-century/
- Published: 2010-09-16T16:09:47.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-22T09:45:59.000Z
- Description: There's a particularly witty hashtag doing the rounds on Twitter at the moment which I couldn't resist sharing. The spikedinthe18thcentury tweets involve mock-headlines that can be enjoyed by anyone with a passing knowledge of the 18th century and Spiked's bizarre brand of posturing contrarianism.
- Author: Guy Aitchison
- Tags: Cultural politics, #Migrated, Europe, United Kingdom, culture, UK, #en, #Import 2026-04-09 15:45, #appended-excerpt

There's a particularly witty [hashtag](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashtag?ref=opendemocracy.net#Hash%5Ftags) doing the rounds on Twitter at the moment which I couldn't resist sharing. The [*spikedinthe18thcentury*](http://twitter.com/?ref=opendemocracy.net#search?q=%23spikedinthe18thcentury%20)tweets involve mock Spiked headlines that can be enjoyed by anyone with a passing knowledge of the 18th century and [Spiked's](http://www.spiked-online.com/?ref=opendemocracy.net) bizarre brand of posturing contrarianism.

Here are some of my favourites:

*@matt\_heath: Against the tyranny of "healthy-eating": three cheers for Marie Antoinette and the peasants right to eat cake*

@dontgetfooled: A flaming disgrace! Parliament's ban on witch-burning reflects a suspicion of anyone who holds strong beliefs

@KeithKahnHarris: The so-called 'Little ice age' is a pernicious myth. Frost fairs on the Thames are anti-science

@Heresy\_Corner: The Gregorian Calendar: A plaything of remote bureaucratic elites that Britain should never adopt

@dontgetfooled: Hands off the slave trade! Wilberforce’s moral posturing reveals a deep-seated loathing of the working class

@BorisWatch: Smallpox Is Good For You: Mr. Richard NORTH exposes the lies of the vaccinators

@qwghlm: Newton and his "Laws of Motion" - the tyranny of unwanted legislation

@NewHumanist: The development of the dictionary reveals a chattering-class plot to dictate meaning to the man in the street

@danieltrilling: luddites are modern-day luddites

@Heresy\_Corner: Yet another mean-spirited attack on the pleasures of the working class. Just what is Hogarth's problem?

@twodoctors: Divided we fall: why the American Revolution has doomed both Britain and America to permanent irrelevance.

@TheoSoc Shrill critics of the South Sea Company are simply hostile to wealth creation

And some of my (less impressive) efforts:

*The Enlightenment - a fashionable middle-class fad that masks a deep anti-freedom agenda*

British army moves into India...but who are the real imperialists?

Anti-Napoleon witch-hunt says more about us than it does about him

George III is perfectly sane - it's society that has gone mad

What no leaches? Medical hygiene fad the symptom of a risk-averse society

Thomas Paine may be trendy, but Burke is the real progressive

There's a particularly witty hashtag doing the rounds on Twitter at the moment which I couldn't resist sharing. The spikedinthe18thcentury tweets involve mock-headlines that can be enjoyed by anyone with a passing knowledge of the 18th century and Spiked's bizarre brand of posturing contrarianism.