Det var visstnok en tittel i en engelsk avis:
Storm in the channel, the continent is isolated
"Fog in channel, continent isolated" er apokryfisk, selv om den gjentas ofte.
"Storm in channel, continent isolated", finnes det derimot belegg for.
Presumably
the London Times saw nothing amusing in its headline, “Continent Isolated,” when for three days a storm held up shipping in the Channel. It was an American woman resident in England who called my attention to this headline, and when I showed it to an English journalist he inquired, in honest bewilderment:
“Well, what’s wrong with it?”
I suggested gently that, having regard only to the population and superficial areas of the two geographical entities, foreigners might have been inclined to say “England Isolated” rather than “Continent Isolated”; but he didn’t see the point, and hasn’t seen it yet.
Answer (1 of 8): "Fog in Channel; Continent Cut Off (Isolated)” is a classic British newspaper headline that appears to be apocryphal. The European continent is cut off (isolated) from England, the newspaper headline states, rather than England being cut off (isolated) from the European continent...
www.quora.com
For hard-core filologer er det en tilleggsvits her. Isola - isolare. Øy, være på en øy. Isolated, i betydningen å stå alene, kommer av ordet for øy, og da er altså kontinentet gjort til en øy av The Times, i eksemplet over.