The former boss of M&S has apparently told firms to "show some backbone" when it comes to dealing with anti-capitalist protesters, according to the Daily Mail. Full story >>
VOCABULARY
A backbone is an animal's spine. It also means determination and strength. • The North Queensland Cowboys showed a lack of backbone by failing to discipline Johnathan Thurston over his post-season arrest.
This cartoon by Schrank from The Independent on Sunday relates to the launch of the new Sunday edition of The Sun, which went on sale for the first time today. The paper replaces the News of the World, which was closed down after it became a toxic brand due to the phone-hacking scandal.
Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive officer of News Corporation, the parent company of News International, which publishes The Sun, is shown sitting in a deckchair under a fan reading his new Sunday tabloid. However, his relaxing read is about to be disturbed by a wave of brown stuff labelled 'More Leveson', which is heading in his direction.
EXPLANATION
To understand the cartoon, you need to be familiar with the expression the shit hits the fan. When the shit hits the fan, a situation suddenly causes a lot of trouble for someone. • I don't want to be here when the shit hits the fan. (The Phrase Finder has an article on the origin of this idiom.) In Murdoch's case, the shit is the Leveson Inquiry, "an ongoing public inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press following the News International phone hacking scandal". According to The Independent on Sunday, "startling new allegations relating to widespread bribery of officials for stories" are likely to be made this week when the Inquiry begins to examine police-press relations. (Several Sun journalists have already been arrested as part of a police corruption probe.) So, despite the euphoria surrounding the launch of the Sunday Sun, Murdoch's troubles may be far from over.
LANGUAGE NOTE
The cartoon caption 'The sun is out ...' has a double meaning: The Sun newspaper has been published, and the sun is shining in the sky. A third possible interpretation is that The Sun is 'out' in the sense of 'extinguished' (like a light or fire which is no longer shining or burning).
ALSO SEE
• Andy Davey cartoon (The Sun)
• Rupert Murdoch oversees first edition of Sun on Sunday (BBC News)
• Sun on Sunday rises under Rupert Murdoch's watchful eye (The Guardian)
• Was 'Sun on Sunday' brought forward to beat revelations? (Independent on Sunday)
The Sunday Telegraph focuses on a mystery virus that has killed thousands of lambs in Britain. Full story >>
VOCABULARY
A lamb is a young sheep. • Children visiting Wroxham Barns during the half-term holiday have been enchanted by the newborn lambs at Junior Farm.
This cartoon by Matt from The Daily Telegraph relates to news that disruptive children are to be educated in "sin bin" schools that will concentrate on basic skills with longer teaching days. Read more >>
COMMENTARY
A mother and her unruly son are leaving one of the new "sin bin" schools. The mother says, "How could you be expelled? We were only looking around the school." The joke is that the boy is so badly behaved that he is expelled before he even starts going to the school.
VOCABULARY
1. If someone is expelled from a school or organization, they are officially told to leave because they have behaved badly.
2. In the sports of ice hockey and rugby league, if a player is sent to the sin bin, they are ordered to leave the playing area for a short period of time because they have done something that is against the rules.
ALSO SEE
• The sin-bin solution: New crackdown on unruly pupils to prevent a repeat of riots (Mail Online)
The Guardian focuses on the international talks in Tunisia called to bring a halt to the violence in Syria. Full story >>
VOCABULARY
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between nations. • A weekend of diplomacy by US and European officials failed to douse the political crisis in the Maldives.
The Cagle Post has a good selection of cartoons on the latest Greek bailout, which was agreed by EU finance ministers earlier in the week.
The above cartoon is by Martyn Turner, an English political cartoonist, caricaturist and writer whose cartoons appear daily in The Irish Times. You can see more of his cartoons here.
The EU doctor (?) is examining his Greek patient. The patient says, "I don't see how we can tighten our belt much more ...". The doctor replies, "Here, let me show you" as he puts the belt around the man's neck. In fact, the 'belt' turns out to be a dog leash, symbolizing Greece's submission to the 'troika', i.e., the EU, the ECB, and the IMF.
EXPLANATION
If you have to tighten your belt, you have to spend less money and manage without things because you have less money than you used to have. • In the new economy, we all have to learn to tighten our belts. The saying is from the depression era where there was little money for anything including food, so people had to tighten their belts in order to keep their pants (UK=trousers) from falling down. The cartoonist uses a visual representation of this idiom/metaphor to suggest that, in return for the bailout, Greece will not only have to implement even more drastic austerity measures, but will also have to accept severe restrictions on its financial sovereignty.
Kal has a very similar belt-tightening cartoon in The Economist.
ALSO SEE
• Greece begrudgingly cedes sovereignty in exchange for bailout funds (Christian Science Monitor)
• Eurozone agrees €130bn bailout for Greece (Daily Telegraph)
The Guardian reports that Syrian forces are now targeting children. Full story >>
VOCABULARY
A sniper is someone who shoots at people from a hidden position. • A few years ago, then-President George W. Bush issued an apology to the Afghan people because an American sniper had shot a Qur'an.
This cartoon by Paul Thomas from The Daily Express relates to the Greek sovereign debt crisis. Earlier in the week, Greece secured a second bailout worth 130bn euros but in return its lenders have attached strict conditions to the loan.
The scene is a Greek restaurant in Athens (we can see the Acropolis through the window). A foreign customer is paying his bill by credit card. He tells the waiter, "Want a tip? Get out of the euro ..."
EXPLANATION
The cartoonist plays on two meanings of the word 'tip': a tip can be a useful piece of advice, or a sum of money you give to someone such as a waiter in a restaurant to thank them for their services.
GRAMMAR
'Want a tip?' is an informal way of saying 'Do you want a tip?'
COMMENT
The big question is 'would Greece be better off outside the euro zone?' Opinions are divided on this matter (see articles below).
ARTICLES
• Greece should leave the eurozone (Washington Times)
• Greece Has a Choice - Get Out the Euro (Real News video)
• Forex focus: the Greek bail-out only buys time (Daily Telegraph)
The Daily Mail reports that doctors are being paid £162m for patients who have moved house, left the country, or have died. Full story >>
VOCABULARY
A GP is a doctor who does not specialize in any particular area of medicine, but who has a medical practice in which he or she treats all types of illness. GP is an abbreviation for 'general practitioner'. • A GP has been barred from practising after a tribunal found he sexually abused a string of young women over a 20-year period.
A new tool has just been added to the excellent Road To Grammar website. Now you can create a multiple choice quiz and save it on Road To Grammar for your students (or whomever) to use. No log-in is necessary, but you can add a password if you like. When you finish creating and uploading the quiz, you will get a unique URL where the quiz will be located. Click here to see an example, and click here to create your own quiz.
COMMENT
Only three answer choices are allowed. An option to create four would have been useful, especially for teachers preparing students for the TOEIC and similar exams where four choices are standard.
