Cartoon: How the Bailout Really Works

Cartoon by Brian Duffy of the Des Moines Register published on 22 April 2009.

This cartoon criticizes the banks for not giving out loans after being bailed out by the government at the taxpayers’ expense. A bailout (in one word) is the money lent to an organization or a person in financial difficulty. To bail out (in two words) is the verb to describe this action.

A loan of course is the money a bank or someone lends you for a particular purpose which you will have to eventually pay back, often with interest. To lend is an irregular verb – lend, lent, lent.

Be careful with the expression ‘screw you.” It is often viewed as vulgar since it is a variation of ‘fuck you.’ It is an expression often said to someone in anger as in the above cartoon. To screw someone is an impolite way of saying to have sexual intercourse but it also means to be cheated or treated in an unfair way. Look at this sentence:

‘We were just screwed out of £20.’

Another verbal phrase that comes from ‘to screw’ is to screw around. This expression is used to describe someone who has a lot of sexual relations.  In a more mild and less offensive meaning, it can also describe someone who wastes a lot of time doing useless and silly things. You might say,

Quit screwing around and get back to work!

To screw up is not considered vulgar and is an idiomatic way of saying that you did something wrong and made a mistake.

He made a bad decision that screwed up his entire life.

I really screwed up this time, didn’t I?