The English Blog

Cartoon: The Royal Kiss

The Royal Wedding balcony kiss provides the inspiration for this cartoon by Adams from The Telegraph. But are those clouds coming or going? Well, after an overcast morning, "rays of sunshine broke through the clouds over central London as William and Kate waved to jubilant crowds after their wedding ceremony". Read more >>

COMMENTARY
The Union Flag sun breaking through the clouds can be seen as a metaphor for the uplifting effect the wedding has had on the mood of the nation. The UK economy may be stagnant, consumer confidence may be plummeting, but "perhaps the nuptials of William and Kate will not only boost tourism and sales of commemorative china, but also wrest the national psyche from its collective funk. Hope springs eternal..." Read more >>

MORE ROYAL WEDDING CARTOONS
• msnbc.com
• Daryl Cagle's Political Cartoonists Index

Newsy Video: A Gown Fit for a Princess

The royal gown and its designer are getting worldwide raves. View transcript >>

Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

VOCABULARY
A gown is a dress, usually a long dress, which women wear on formal occasions.

ALSO SEE
• How Kate's foxy sister Pippa stole the show (Mail Online)
• The style queens: How the wedding guests fared (Mail Online)
• Kate Middleton wedding dress is Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen (Telegraph)
• Kate Middleton wedding dress: top designers give their verdicts (Telegraph)
• Kate Middleton chose a stunning dress that won't age in photographs – unlike Diana's (Telegraph)
• Kate Middleton's dress – a fistpump moment for British fashion (The Guardian)
• Kate Middleton's dress (TIME interactive)

Words in the News: Kiss

Most of the UK dailies carry a photo of Prince William kissing his new bride on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. The Yorkshire Post has the headline "Sealed with a kiss". Read more >>

VOCABULARY
A kiss is the act of pressing one's lips against the body of another. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. A kiss may be used to express sentiments of love, passion, affection, respect, greeting, friendship, and good luck, among many others. • William and Kate's first kiss at 1.27pm lasted 0.76secs But the SECOND, two minutes later, was longer, deeper and more tender.

Watch the Royal Wedding Live on YouTube

Actually, it's today. Live on www.youtube.com/theroyalchannel at 10am London time. 2am (PST), 5am (EDT), 10am (BST London), 11am (CEST), 2:30 (IST), 7pm (EST), 9pm (NZST)

Cartoon: Royal Wedding Viewing Clash

According to The Daily Mail, two billion people around the world will be watching the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on TV today. This cartoon by Mac imagines the scene in a 'typical' British home, where the whole family have gathered to view the nuptials, equipped with Union Jack flags and confetti. Unfortunately, the father wants to switch over to watch the snooker on another channel! Plus, he has the remote control. Hence, the glum expressions all round.

CULTURE NOTE
Snooker is a popular TV sport in the UK, and the World Snooker Championship is currently taking place in Sheffield.

GRAMMAR NOTE
Strictly speaking, the father should have said 'Would anyone mind if I switched over to watch the snooker?', as this is an example of the so-called 'second conditional'. Alternatively, he could have said, 'Does anyone mind if I switch over ...'. But let's not nit-pick on this happiest of days.

ALSO SEE
• The Royal Channel (watch the wedding live on YouTube)
• Mail Online (latest pictures)
• London comes to a halt as wedding fever goes global (The Independent)
• The Best Royal Wedding Resources (The English Blog)

Words in the News: Commoner

The Daily Telegraph says Kate Middleton will today complete her storybook transformation from a middle-class commoner into a woman who will one day be Queen. Full story >>

VOCABULARY
1. In countries which have a nobility, commoners are people who are not members of the nobility. • Fergie was a commoner and proud of it before she married Prince Andrew, second son of the Queen.
2. Farewell means the same as goodbye in literary and old-fashioned English. The headline's mention of Kate 'waving farewell' is a pun on the photo, where we see her actually waving.

Cartoon: Gordon and Tony's Royal Wedding Wheeze

This cartoon by Mac from The Daily Mail relates to the news that former UK prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have not been invited to tomorrow's Royal Wedding. Read more >>

EXPLANATION
The joke is that Tony (the one with the big ears on the left) and Gordon have disguised themselves in burkas (although strictly speaking I think they are niqabs) in order to gatecrash the wedding by pretending to be wives of a Saudi prince.

ALSO SEE
• Royal wedding snub for Blair and Brown criticised by ministers (The Guardian)
• Royal wedding: No place for Tony Blair and Gordon Brown (The Telegraph)
• As Syria slaughters hundreds, its ambassador gets Abbey seat denied to British Premiers (Mail Online)
• Cartoon by Bob (Daily Telegraph)

COMMENT
I think my invitation must have got lost in the post. :-(

Newsy Video: Did Obama Put Birther Debate to Rest?

President Obama released a long-form birth certificate with hopes of ending birther debate. But will it actually raise more questions? View transcript >>

Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

VOCABULARY
A birther is a believer in one or more conspiracy theories, holding that President Barack Obama is not a "natural born" citizen of the United States, and therefore ineligible for the presidency.

ALSO SEE
• The day America took leave of its senses (The Independent)
• Obama chides birthers for 'silliness' (Mail Online)
• Obama forced to prove he's all American (ABC News audio report)
• If only proof were needed (The Economist)
• Trump this (The Economist)

COMMENT
Those crazy Americans! None more so than Donald Trump, aka The Donald. Mind you, the DVD box set of Season One of his Apprentice TV show (only $9.95 on Amazon!) has proved to be a great business English teaching resource, so I should be grateful to him for that.

Words in the News: Fiddler

The Daily Express has the headline "Blitz on Benefits". It claims thousands of people receiving government money are actually fit to work. Full story >>

VOCABULARY
If someone fiddles something, they alter it dishonestly or illegally so that they get money or some other benefit for themselves. • A tachograph fiddler who filled in charts for a fictitious driver could go to jail after being sent to the Crown Court for sentence. In the context of the Express headline, a fiddler is a person who cheats the benefits system by making false claims. 

Cartoon: Lift Up Thine Eyes

This cartoon by Andy Davey from The Sun relates to The Sun's own report about Kate Middleton's recurring dream that she is naked in front of the wedding congregation (headline: "Nudeywed"!). Apparently, Kate suffered a similar anxiety-related dream in 2006 as she prepared to start a new job as an accessory buyer with clothing chain Jigsaw. Kate needn't worry though: "If she really did find herself naked there would be plenty of foliage to hide behind. Trees 20ft high are among blooms the couple have chosen to decorate the Abbey", The Sun reassures us. That's a relief. Full story >>

The cartoon shows Prince William and a naked Kate at the altar in Westminster Abbey. William is staring admiringly at his bride's unclothed body, as is his brother and best man Prince Harry, who stands behind the royal couple holding the ring. The Archbishop of Canterbury, who is performing the wedding ceremony, says: 'Quick ... hymn n° 318—"Lift Up Thine Eyes"'.

EXPLANATION
A hymn (pronounced 'him') is a religious song that Christians sing in church. Thine is an old-fashioned, poetic, or religious word for 'your' or 'yours'. So the archbishop is tactfully telling the congregation to keep their eyes off Kate.

TRIVIA NOTE
I couldn't find any reference to a Hymn n° 318 containing that line, so I suspect Andy Davey might have made that up. But the words are part of the well-known hymn "Fight the Good Fight". 

COMMENT
At least that would put an end to all the speculation about the dress.

Newsy Video: The 25th Anniversary of Chernobyl

25 years after the Chernobyl nuclear accident, a look back at the long-term effects and what we've learned. View transcript >>

Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

ALSO SEE
• Ukraine marks 25 years since Chernobyl (Financial Times)
• The Chernobyl Disaster (BBC News)
• Was Chernobyl really worse than Fukushima? (Christian Science Monitor)
• Russian president's call for tighter nuclear safety as he visits Chernobyl to mark 25th anniversary of disaster (Mail Online)

Words in the News: Protect

The Daily Express reports senior officers have urged people who will line London's streets to watch the Royal Wedding to be "the eyes and ears of police". Full story >>

VOCABULARY
To protect someone or something means to prevent them from being harmed or damaged. • A masked vigilante has taken to the streets of Royal Tunbridge Wells to protect "ordinary citizens".

The Best Royal Wedding Resources

Personally, I can't seem to work up much enthusiasm for the Royal Wedding. Perhaps it's because I'm living in exile across the Channel in France. Anyway, I'm sure that I'm in a minority and that English Blog readers around the world will be looking forward to Friday's events with mounting excitement. So here, to get you in the mood, is my list of The Best Royal Wedding Resources.

• The Sun (check out the Royal Wedding souvenirs)
• Mail Online (they're queueing already)
• The Guardian (bet The Independent doesn't have a special section!)
• The Telegraph (timetable in full)
• Sky News (who's on the guest list?)
• BBC News (the wedding route)
• CNN (America's love affair with Will and Kate)
• The New York Times (What will Kate wear?)
• How to follow the Royal Wedding online (Mashable)
• Official Royal Wedding site
• Unofficial Royal Wedding site
• The T-Mobile Royal Wedding ad (this went viral)

ClassMarker: Online Test Creator

I've been looking for a way to create tests and quizzes and put them online for my students. The best solution I've found so far is ClassMarker, a "professional hosted online testing service with free and paid options available". To get an idea of what you can do with ClassMarker, take the tour and try the sample online test. I particularly like the fact that you can embed YouTube videos or pictures in your quizzes.

COMMENT
The basic version is free. This allows you to create and put your tests online. However, if you want to be able to collect your students' scores, you'll have to sign up for the Professional version. For educators, this costs $24.95 a year, which seems like pretty good value to me.  I'd be interested to know if anyone has used another online testing service.

Cartoon: Afghan Jail Break

This cartoon by Andy Davey from The Sun relates to news that the Taliban dug a 1,000ft tunnel to enable 500 or so of its militants to escape from an Afghan prison yesterday. Starting at a house outside the prison walls, the tunnel made its way right into the cell blocks at the high-security jail in Kandahar. Read more >>

The cartoon shows the prisoners fleeing, while an onlooker comments, "I suppose it could be a fancy dress party, but I never saw them arrive."

VOCABULARY
1. Fancy dress is clothing that you wear for a party at which everyone tries to look like a famous person or a person from a story, from history, or from a particular profession (e.g., nurses, vicars, prostitutes, or prison inmates).
2. The words 'jail' and 'prison' are pretty much interchangeable. Note that 'jail' can be used as a verb as well. • He was jailed for 20 years.

GRAMMAR
Note the use of the zero infinitive (i.e., the infinitive without 'to') after a verb of perception ('see'). You can read more about this grammar point here.

ALSO SEE
• Hundreds of Taliban Prisoners Escape Afghan Prison (Newsy video)
• The Great Escape (Afghanistan style) (Mail Online)