IT HAS been used to speak out against the pope, police brutality and rising student fees. It has spread from Craggy Island, a fictional outpost of Ireland, to Britain. It was present for the unseating of an Icelandic prime minister and travelled across the Atlantic Ocean to Washington, DC for the inauguration of Donald Trump. Last week it was back in London amid a 30,000-strong crowd protesting Mr Trump’s planned state visit. If you’ve been to a demonstration over the past few years, chances are you’ll have encountered a sign bearing the curious legend “Down With This Sort of Thing”. But what does the slogan stand for?

Many will not be aware that “Down With This Sort of Thing” made its political debut in an episode of “Father Ted”, a classic Irish sitcom that aired between 1995 and 1998. Ted, a frustrated Catholic priest with secret secular ambitions, and Dougal (his dim-witted sidekick) are sent by the local bishop to protest against a film condemned as “blasphemous” by the pope. Chaining themselves to a railing outside the cinema, they wave placards with slogans reflecting their general lack of enthusiasm for the undertaking: the immortal “Down With This Sort of Thing”, and the rather less-imitated “Careful Now”.

It is a great joke, and one inspired by real-life demonstrations in Ireland against Martin Scorsese’s “The Last Temptation of Christ” (1988), according to Arthur Mathews, the co-creator of “Father Ted”. “I don’t think we gave [the slogans] much thought at all; we probably used the first thing that came into our heads,” he says. “That was the point, really—Ted and Dougal wouldn’t give it much thought either.” The hopelessly vague nature of the sign is one part of its appeal; it also speaks to the enduring British taste for euphemism and self-effacement. Think of the sign as a slightly less smug version of another protest perennial, “Make Tea Not War”. “It’s almost apologetic,” says Mr Mathews. “It sends the message: ‘I’m committed to the cause, but I’m going to down to the pub afterwards—not on to a boring Momentum meeting.’”

Brexit and Mr Trump’s divisive rhetoric have mobilised plenty of people who would not usually consider themselves to be the protesting type. These “shy” protesters have been out in force at recent rallies, voicing their displeasure with signs that put semi-ironic quote marks round their dissent. Paradoxically, the humorous, dismissive slogans show how bad the situation has become. Both “So Bad, Even Introverts Are Here” and “Not Usually a Sign Guy but Geez”—which were widely pictured at the anti-Trump protests on January 21st—offer sly commentary on the galvanising political moment, all the while maintaining a crucial element of self-awareness. In this context, “Down With This Sort of Thing” can be seen as a spiritual forebear; it highlights that an act of protest can be as simple as turning up.

Is there a limit to the sign’s effectiveness? Graham Linehan, Mr Mathews’ co-writer, wonders if the slogan’s cheery understatement isn’t starting to chafe with the mood of the times. “Obviously, I’m very proud of the way the posters have had this second life—and vastly amused at how [people are] using a joke about ineffective protesters to both participate and send themselves up,” he says. “[But] I do think there might be something pre-Trump and pre-Brexit about their use. Now the stakes are that much higher, saying ‘Down With This Sort of Thing’ may feel a little like bringing a bun to a gunfight.”

Mr Linehan maintains that humour still has its place in protest, but says that his “anger is bypassing [his] humour circuits” at the moment. He predicts that “Down With This Sort of Thing” may decline in placard popularity as “people get angrier” and the issues become even more contentious. For the moment, however, the half-hearted words of Ted and Dougal live on.