This is Melville's real heaven, an all-male platoon, each with his hand in someone's pocket. The circle jerk is another Romantic uroboros.

When organisations celebrate their anniversaries you can usually expect a dull circle jerk of self-congratulation, so the BBC played a blinder in getting Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse to do it for them. Patting yourself on the back looks better when you send yourself up.

There is a long line of these types, some cleverer than others: Rod Liddle, Richard Littlejohn and Jeremy Clarkson, with Toby Young, James Delingpole and Martin Daubney on the subs’ bench. They present as dissenting voices, speaking truth to the elite. In reality, they just preach to people their age. To call this circle jerk of intolerance a culture war is to ennoble it.

Circle jerk

Meaning

Noun

Verb