12.7. Vocabulary. Match the newspaper headlines from a famous British tabloid with the correct story

A. BIG-WIG BERT BEDS BUSTY BOMBAY BIRD. 3.Business tycoon has an affair whilst on holiday. A ‘big-wig’ is a very rich boss or a man of importance. ‘To bed’ is a verb that means ‘to go to bed with someone’. ‘Busty’ is a colloquial way of describing a big chest. An attractive woman is vulgarly referred to as a ‘bird’.

B. RANDY ROD’S RIGHT ROYAL RUMPUS. 8.Sex-mad womaniser doesn’t realise he’s chatting up a princess. A ‘randy’ person is one who wants sex. In this context ‘right’ is a slang intensifier for ‘very’. A ‘rumpus’ is a ‘noise’ a ‘fuss’ or ‘disturbance’. The word is the result of trouble.

C. TELL-TALE TORY’S TALL STORY. 7.Conservative politician in dishonesty scandal. ‘Tell-tale’ is a person who informs on someone, ‘tale’ being a synonym of ‘story’. A ‘tall story’ is a lie.

D. LIVING IT UP ON THE COSTA DEL DOLE. 4.Unemployed good-for-nothings falsely claim benefits whilst on holiday. ‘To live it up’ is to live and enjoy life to the maximum. The Spanish Costa del Sol is Britain’s most popular tourist destination. ‘The dole’ is the nickname for social security money.

E. EL TEL’S HOTEL SELL HELL. 1.Ex Barcelona manager loses money on the sale of a chain of ….. ‘El Tel’ is Terry Venables, ex Barcelona and England football team manager. A common practice of the tabloid press is to give famous people comical nicknames. Michael Jackson is called ‘Wacko Jacko’ (‘Wacko’ means ‘crazy’ or ‘mad’). Mikhail Gorbachov was called ‘Gorby’. ‘Maddy’ is Madonna. Slobodan Milosovich became known as ‘Slobo’, which means something like ‘lazy’ and ‘fat’.  

F. BETTY’S BET BUSTS BOOKIES. 6.Old lady breaks record causing enormous financial problems for turf accountants.  A ‘bet’ is the money you put down when you gamble. ‘To bust’ is a colloquial way of saying ‘to break’ or ‘to smash’. The organised betting establishments in Britain are sometimes known as ‘bookmakers’.

G. TUBBY OR NOT  TUBBY. 2.Fat man to take leading role in Royal Shakespeare Company play. ‘Tubby’ is a euphemism of ‘fat’. ‘To be or not to be’ was…. I don’t really have to explain that to you do I. You philistine.

H. NO SLEAZE PLEASE! 5.Political leaders ask for a clean scandal-free election to maintain party’s image. ‘Sleaze’ is a noun for ‘secretive, impure, immoral or corrupt activity usually sexual in nature’.