New book, “Schott’s Significa”, features strip by VIZ cartoonist Davey Jones

By John Freeman on October 29, 2025 • ( 0 )

Schott’s Significa: The Hidden Vocabulary of Subcultures, Societies and Everyday Speech is a new book by Ben Schott, a field guide to the terminology, private codes and colloquialisms of over fifty different trades, professions and subcultures, from London cabbies to espionage agents, to Taylor Swift fans.

The new book from the top-selling author, published by Michael Joseph, includes a new comic strip by longtime VIZ contributor Davey Jones, a strip, he’s revealed, was created at some scary cost.

Ben Schott is the creator and designer of the international bestseller Schott’s Original Miscellany and its three sequels. He subsequently published a series of Schott’s Almanacs, a collection of German neologisms – Schottenfreude – and two authorised homages to P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves and The King of Clubs and Jeeves and The Leap of Faith. Together, these books have sold some 2.5 million copies in 21 languages (including Braille).

He’s also written for The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The New York Times, The Spectator, The Guardian, Private Eye, Reader’s Digest and The Paris Review, among others. In 2004 he won a D&AD Pencil for Creative Excellence, and in 2015 he won the James Beard award for humour.

“I’m pleased to have been involved in this,” says Davey Jones. “I collaborated on the section about the conventions of the comic strip.

*A taster of Davey Jones eye-breaking strip for Schott’s Significa*

“Ben wanted the page to look really dense and packed with detail, and I nearly broke my eyes drawing it,” the acclaimed cartoonist, who grew up in Wales and began working for VIZ as a cartoonist in 1986.

“The morning after I finished inking I woke up to find that my right eye was completely bloodshot, making me look a bit like The Terminator, to a limited degree.

“But anyway, it was very enjoyable to do, and the book would make a fine addition to any toiletside library.”

• Schott’s Significa: The Hidden Vocabulary of Subcultures, Societies and Everyday Speech is available now | ISBN: 978-0241736609| AmazonUK Affiliate Link | UKBookshop.org Affiliate Link

• Ben Schott is online at benschott.com

• Follow Davey Jones on BlueSky | Facebook

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.