The English Blog

Words in the News: Vanish

The Air France plane disappearance features on the front of the Express as fears grew for a number of missing Britons. Full story >>

VOCABULARY
If someone or something vanishes into thin air, they disappear suddenly or in a way that cannot be explained, leaving no trace. • After several barmaids, girl friends and two of his wives vanished into thin air, the local authorities began to suspect Ball. In the Express headline, there's a play on the word "air"—the Air France airplane was in the air when it vanished. The Phrase Finder has an article on the origin of this expression.

Words in the News: Step Down

Although a new poll of election voting intentions pushed Labour into third place for the first time in almost 25 years, Gordon Brown continued to insist that he would reject any cabinet attempt to persuade him to retire. Full story >>

VOCABULARY 

1. If someone steps down, they resign from an important job or position. • Margaret Moran, an MP for the ruling Labour Party, announced on Thursday that she would step down at the next general election.

2. A rout (rhymes with 'shout') is an overwhelming defeat. • Top-ranked Van continued its undefeated season with an 11-1 rout of Mt. Vernon.

3. If a worrying or threatening situation is looming, it seems likely to happen soon. • Many public sector managers are ill-prepared to cope with the looming crisis.  

Free Download: The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English

Grant Barrett, co-host of A Way With Words, one of my favourite podcasts, has made his book The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English ($11.21 on Amazon.com) available for download at no cost. You can get it from his Lexicographer's Rules site.

Grant's reasons for giving his book away are interesting:

Since my book The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English is now available on the bootleg e-book sites ("pirate" is the wrong term, I think), I've decided to make it available for download at no cost. [ . . .]

By the way, the way these books get out there is usually simple. Sometimes the files leak from publishers, sometimes from authors, sometimes they're scanned from paper to pixels, etc., etc., Sometimes people pretend to be blind and contact the publisher to ask for a digital copy of a book so they can use it with their screen readers that translate the digital pages into something they can understand. The publisher sends a digital copy and in a few days it's all over the Internet.

COMMENT
It will be interesting to see if Grant's download offer results in increased sales of the hard copy version. I recently read that illegal downloaders of mp3 music buy more CDs than non-downloaders. (I've bought CDs of music I've discovered on Spotify.) Perhaps the same is true for books? After all, I would have thought that there's a much greater incentive to buy a book than there is to buy a CD after downloading the digital version. 

Cartoon: Like Water Off A Lame Duck's Back

This cartoon by Schrank from The Independent on Sunday shows Gordon Brown as a lame duck on an island in the middle of a pond. The duck house on the island is a miniature replica of 10 Downing Street, the prime minister's official residence. There's a crowd of people at the edge of the pond waving banners with slogans like 'Election Now' and 'We're Mad As Hell'. 

NOTES
1. This is yet another cartoon about the MPs' expenses scandal. One of the most outrageous expenses claims was made by Tory MP Sir Peter Viggers, who submitted an invoice for a duck house to the Commons fees office, claiming £1,645 as part of his MP's expenses. This story has captured the imagination of the press and cartoonists alike (for example, The Independent's Dave Brown and Mac in the Daily Mail).

2. If insults or criticism are '(like) water off a duck's back' to someone, it has no effect on them. • He's always being told he's lazy and incompetent, but it's just water off a duck's back to him. EnglishClub.com has an article about this expression including this explanation of its origin:

Probably related to the fact that ducks have oily feathers and water can't get through them, so water runs off their backs. In the same way, criticism can either get through to someone and upset them, or not get through to them and not upset them, and be "like water off a duck's back."

Despite public anger over the expenses affair and a succession of other political disasters, Gordon Brown has refused to heed calls for a general election and seems determined to cling to power as long as possible.

3. The cartoonist has put the adjective 'lame' before duck. 'Lame' is an adjective used to describe a person or animal unable to walk properly because one of their legs has been injured. However, the expression 'lame duck' describes 'a politician whose power has been diminished because he or she is about to leave office'; e.g. Gordon Brown is a lame duck prime minister who has no chance of winning the next election.

Cartoon: Hands in the Till

This cartoon by Peter Brookes from The Times shows a Member of Parliament being led away by two policemen. He has his hands stuck in a cash till. We are meant to understand that the MP is being arrested for corruption following the expenses scandal. He blames the Speaker, calling him "bloody awful", a strong expression of negative feelings. (The Speaker's critics blame him for various attempts to block requests in recent years to have expenses details released under Freedom of Information laws.)

IDIOM
If you are caught with your hands in the till, you are caught trying to steal money. It's a fairly straightforward metaphor. • Labour MPs caught with their hands in the till face being sacked before the General Election.

MORE "SPEAKER" CARTOONS
Paul Thomas in the Daily Express

Dave Brown in The Independent

Idioms in the News: The Party's Over

The Independent on Sunday reveals results of a poll showing that the public have lost confidence in politicians. According to the poll more than 40% would reject all party options. Full story >>

LANGUAGE NOTES
A party is a social event at which people enjoy themselves by eating, drinking, dancing, etc. If you say that the party's over, you mean that a happy or good time has come to an end. It's a metaphorical usage. • The staff hardly worked at all under the old management, but they'll find the party's over now. The 'party' referred to in the headline is the period during which MPs' were able to profit from the expenses system. However, there is a play on words, since the word 'party' can also refer to a political organization (the Labour Party, the Conservative Party, etc.). 

Cartoon: The Fickleness of Mobs

This rather gruesome cartoon by Martin Rowson from The Times draws a parallel between the French Revolution and the current scandal about MPs' expenses. We see a guillotine which is cutting off the heads of MPs (among them, party leaders Gordon Brown and David Cameron). The heads have rolled into baskets (the cartoonist is almost certainly thinking of the expression "heads will roll", which was used in a Guardian headline yesterday). The much-criticized Speaker Michael Martin, waiting in a tumbril, is next in line to be guillotined. The three pigs in pin-striped suits knitting the word 'Bonus' on scarves represent bankers or financiers. Only a few weeks ago, they were the most unpopular group of people in the country on account of their huge (undeserved) bonuses, but now that dubious honour goes to the MPs. The title of the cartoon, "On the fickleness of mobs" is a comment on the fact that the public (and the media) can quickly change the target of their disaffection (or hate). "Eat the bankers" was one the most popular slogans of the G-20 demonstrations, but now irate taxpayers are throwing bricks through MPs' windows.

VOCABULARY
Someone who is fickle keeps changing their mind about what they like or want. • Voters are fickle, swayed by any number of different things.

HISTORICAL NOTE
The term 'tricoteuses' or 'female knitters' was used to refer to the old women who sat around the guillotine knitting during the Reign of Terror in France in the 18th century. Decisions on executions had to be made in public so these women were paid to be in attendance and give their opinion. During the Reign of Terror the opinions were rarely anything but 'off with his head'. [Source: Wikipedia]

Ad Campaign: Schick Quattro women’s razor

WARNING: This post is not suitable for persons who are easily offended (that should improve the viewing figures no end!). 

You probably associate the word 'bush' with US presidents, Kate, or plants, but did you know it's also a slang term for part of the female anatomy. A new ad campaign plays on this meaning. Business Spotlight Online has the lowdown:

How do you advertise products like tampons or women’s razors? Traditionally, these necessary but private items have been marketed discreetly. A new campaign for the Schick Quattro women’s razor has chosen another tactic: humour and double entendre.

The Quattro has a standard razor for the legs at one end and a “bikini trimmer” for pubic hair at the other. It’s the bikini trimmer that has inspired marketers to encourage women to “mow the lawn” and “trim the hedges” in a controversial video. Full story >>

 

VOCABULARY
The one thing the Business Spotlight article does not explain is that 'bush' is a euphemism for female pubic hair. This ad is slightly more subtle than the one above.

COMMENT
Crass, offensive and repellent. Or witty, brave and fun. You decide!

Words in the News: Sack

The Independent claims that Conservative leader David Cameron gave his party members an ultimatum over excessive expenses claims - pay it back or face the sack. Full story >>

VOCABULARY
If your employers sack you, they tell you that you can no longer work for them because you have done something that they did not like or because your work was not good enough. • The Prime Minister sacked the trade minister following allegations of corruption. Sack is also used as a noun. • The boss gave him the sack. • He got the sack. • Dishonest MPs are facing the sack. According to The Phrase Finder, "The probable derivation is the allusion to tradesmen, who owned their own tools, taking them with them in a bag or sack when they were dismissed from employment."

Cartoon: Shooting Fish in a Barrel

You really need to see this cartoon by Martin Rowson from today's Guardian in full size to appreciate it fully. (The version in the printed newspaper is in black and white, which seriously reduces the impact.) It's another cartoon about the MPs' expenses crisis/row/scandal (no-one seems to have come up with a definitive '-gate' word yet—'Expenses-gate' is the obvious one, but it sounds rather trite).

A man dressed in a green herring-bone hunting outfit is firing an antique blunderbuss into a barrel of fish. The word 'Telegraph' is written on the barrel of the gun. This refers to the Daily Telegraph, the newspaper which broke the expenses story. (The Telegraph is a right-wing paper, hence the old-fashioned, country gent stereotype). The expression which the cartoon is supposed to make you think of is "shooting fish in a barrel". This is a fairly straightforward metaphor (or simile). If you say that something is like shooting fish in a barrel, you mean it is so easy that you can't fail. The fish are the MPs, who are easy targets for the Telegraph (it has obtained a leaked list of all MPs' expenses). Among the fish we can see Gordon Brown outside the barrel on the left (apparently already dead), and Hazel Blears (?), who has been blasted into the air. David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party, thinks: "Ha, ha! Soon this barrel will all be mine!" Of course, the cartoonist is being ironic here, since the barrel is already shot to pieces. The suggestion is that when David Cameron becomes the next prime minister, as most people think he will, he will inherit a parliament which is totally discredited.

One final detail. The barrel, which is full of holes and leaking, has the words 'Rotten Apples' written on it. If you call someone a rotten apple, it means they are dishonest and cause a lot of problems for the organization they belong to—just like those greedy MPs. 

FOOTNOTE

If you are wondering how easy it really is to shoot fish in a barrel, watch this video!

Cartoon: History of Communcation!

Nice cartoon by Doug Savage at www.savagechickens.com.

VOCABULARY
If someone says that something sucks, it means they think it is very bad. • That last Indiana Jones movie really sucks. Some people find this use of the word offensive. You can read a defence of sucks here.

Cartoon: Every Cloud ...

This cartoon by Peter Brookes at TimesOnline shows Gordon Brown (top left) and members of his government wearing masks (to protect them from swine flu). They are trying to speak but can only utter unrecognizable sounds because of the masks. A pig in the final panel comments "Every cloud ... !" 

COMMENTARY
To understand this cartoon, you need to know the proverb "Every cloud has a silver lining". This means that there is something good even in an unpleasant situation. • As the trip's been cancelled I'll be able to go to the match this Saturday. Every cloud has a silver lining. The pig only has to say the first two words because most native English speakers would be familiar with the adage. (See here and here for more on this saying.) The cartoonist jokes that one of the positive points of the swine flu outbreak is that we won't have to listen to what the members of the government are saying. 

Cartoon: Join The Queue

This cartoon by Morten Morland from TimesOnline provides a sobering comment on the sad state of the British economy. It seems only a short while ago that the consumer boom was in full swing and people were queuing for the sales. Now, they're unemployed and queuing outside the Job Centre, while the shops are for sale.

VOCABULARY
When someone comes to join the queue (pronounced exactly like the letter 'Q') they have to go to the back of the queue and wait until it is their turn. However, 'Join the queue' is also used as an ironic comment when someone has the same problem as you:

A: I'm going to have to do something about my spelling. 

B: Join the queue.

CULTURE NOTE

The British love to queue and don't take kindly to queue jumpers. For a Brit living in France, it can be frustrating at times when a queue refuses to form. Things have improved over the years, however, with the introduction of customer flow management systems.

Cartoon: On The Skids

This cartoon by Kipper Williams from The Guardian refers to the news that Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, saw profits plunge more than 90% in the first three months of the year as cash-strapped consumers held onto their existing handsets. Full story >>

THE JOKE
The man in the cartoon, whom we can assume to be a Nokia executive, is saying "I'm on the skids." If something is on the skids, it is in the process of decline or deterioration: His career is on the skids. The joke is that people often use their mobile phones to tell friends or family "I'm on the train". This cliche has become something of a joke in itself. The cartoonist has just changed "train" to "skids".

ORIGIN OF EXPRESSION

'Nearly every logging community of the 19th and early 20th century had their own skid row or road. So called because the road leading from a lumber camp was generally laid with wooden skids to facilitate the rolling or skidding (dragging) of freshly cut timber, usually in the direction of a river or mill. Loggers tended to build temporary shanties along the road and thus skid row came to mean "a part of town inhabited by loggers" around 1906. When all the local timber was harvested, the loggers would move on, leaving their ramshackles behind, and by 1915 skid row came to mean a cheap, disreputable district, usually populated by dives and dipsomaniacs. The term on the skids has a similar origin: skid roads were generally built on a downward slope and once you were on the skids you were heading downhill at a steady pace.' (Source: Modern Drunkard Magazine)

Cartoon: Obama Takes Europe In His Stride

This cartoon by Peter Brookes from The Times uses a visual pun. If you take something in your stride, you deal with it calmly and easily. Obama's European trip is generally thought to have been a success, and the cartoon shows him striding (=walk with quick, long steps) along like a king with his robe trailing behind him. In this case, however, the robe is an American flag, and we can see Sarkozy and the other European leaders struggling to escape.