Political cartoon by Rick McKee of The Augusta Chronicle in Augusta, Georgia published on 13 May 2011.
to do someone a favor (Note: in British English it is spelled ‘favour’) – to do something to help someone else
to hang on to something – to keep something because you think you might need it sometime in the future
Political cartoon by Rick McKee of The Augusta Chronicle in Augusta, Georgia published on 29 April 2011.
a gal - a girl, or a woman (English version of the French ‘une nana’)
a guy = a boy, or a man (English version of the French ‘un mec’)
barely (adv.) - used for emphasizing how small an amount is
to be on welfare – to receive money, care and/or help from the state (for people in need or unemployed)
Political cartoon by Randy Bish of the The Tribune Review in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and published on 28 April 2011.
Sheer is a word used to emphasize the amount or degree of something. Take a look at some examples:
Their excellent results were a result of their sheer hard work.
Being able to see his family after spending a year on military duty in Iraq was sheer joy.
Gaudiness is the state of being overdone and without good taste. The adjective is gaudy. To give you an idea, here’s a picture from today’s royal wedding!
Now this is a gaudy hat worn by Princess Beatrice of York, elder daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York!
And let’s not forget the queen of gaudy clothing, Lady Gaga, who is always gaudily dressed! It’s sheer gaudiness!
Political cartoon by Jimmy Margulies of The Record in New Jersey and published on 27 December 2010.
This political cartoon is a spoof (une parodie) on an anti-drug TV commercial from the 1980s which you’ll find below.
A nest egg is a special sum or amount of money that has been saved or invested for a specific future use such as retirement. This term comes from the practice of putting a real or an artificial egg into the nest of a chicken in order to encourage it to lay (pondre) more eggs.
The connection to saving money is a bit uncertain but possibly it’s because the nest egg wasn’t removed from the nest until the chicken had laid eggs.
Political cartoon by Joe Heller of The Green Bay Press-Gazette in Wisconsin and published on 28 December 2010.
The winter weather in Europe and the east of the United States wrecked havoc this Christmas travel season leaving thousands of people stranded in airports. If you are stranded, this means that you are left somewhere with no way of going anywhere else.
Being stuck in an airport with nowhere to go, requires some true grit. Soldiers in difficult combat situations require determination, courage and fearlessness; they need grit!
Political cartoon by Drew Sheneman of The Star-Ledger in New Jersey.
“Stuff it!” is a vulgar response given in extreme anger, frustration or disgust. It is presumably short for “stuff it up you’re a___!”
Political cartoon by Cameron “Cam” Cardow of The Ottowa Citizen in Canada and published on 01 December 2010.
If you are down on your luck, you are in a long period of difficulty finding work and earning money. Unfortunately due to the current economic situation, a lot of people are down on their luck.
Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. On this day many U.S. retailers open very early, often at 5 a.m., and offer promotional sales to kick off the shopping season. Because Thanksgiving always falls on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States, the day after occurs between the 23rd and the 29th of November.
The day's name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. Use of the term began by 1966 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. Later an alternative explanation began to be offered: that "Black Friday" indicates the period during which retailers are turning a profit, or "in the black." (Wikipedia)
Political cartoon by Dave Granlund of Massachusetts and published on 25 November 2010.
If you are black and blue, you are covered in bruises due to injury from being hit, falling, etc…
Political cartoon by Joe Heller of The Green Bay Press-Gazette in Wisconsin and published on 25 November 2010.
The Christmas shopping season has officially begun and millions of Americans find themselves fighting the throngs of people wanting to get those great after Thanksgiving sales. The principal shopper in the cartoon just happens to get the last item on sale but other shoppers also want it and are fighting him for it! He states that just the other day he was worried about strangers touching his junk at the airport. Now they have his hands on him everywhere!!
You’ve probably seen the word ‘junk’ in expressions such as junk food or junk mail however this word has another pop culture meaning that has become more popularized due to current security measures at airports. Junk is an American slang term for your genital organs that seems to have gotten its start in pop songs though I’m unsure of its origins.** It refers more specifically to male genitals but has crossed over to indicate the female’s as well. Use this term with great caution because it may be considered quite vulgar by some speakers!
“Don’t touch my junk” was made popular in the press by a traveller at the airport who didn’t want the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) agent touching his genital area during a pat-down. This is the act of passing the hands over the clothed body of someone else in order to detect concealed contraband such as weapons, drugs, etc.. These pat-downs have become very invasive with agents actually touching the genitals of passengers, the breasts of women, placing hands in underwear and in some cases, strip searching travellers including small children! Justifiably, many Americans are very angry with these new measures and view them as actions of a police state. This provoked one airline passenger to warn the TSA agent, “Don’t touch my junk!”
**If any of my blog followers know the origins of the term ‘junk’ in referring to the sexual genitals, please share them by leaving a comment!!
Political cartoon by Rick McKee of the The Augusta Chronicle in Georgia and published on 21 November 2010.
Clear-cutting is the act of cutting down all the trees in an area. The deforestation of the Brazilian rain jungle is caused by clear-cutting.
If you set up a new business, you start and put it in place. The cartoonist is criticizing how the government set up by the Founding Fathers has been turned into a massive, oversized one.
The government, as most of our Western governments, have run up massive debts! If you run up a bill or a debt, you owe someone a lot of money. With the arrival of winter, we run up our gas bills as we heat our homes more and more.
The cartoonist also criticizes the moral state of the country. He believes that Americans have embraced immorality of every kind. If you embrace a new belief, an idea or a new way of life, you accept it completely.
According to the cartoonist, the embrace of immorality has led the country to devolve into godless socialism. Devolve is the opposite of evolve and has the meaning of deteriorating and degenerating. The cartoonist also expresses the global opinion of Americans concerning socialism as being godless. A form of governance that is considered to be immoral and atheistical by a large part of the American citizenry.
Political cartoon by Joe Heller of the The Green Bay Press-Gazette in Wisconsin and published on 12 November 2010.
This cartoon from the political left is mocking the release of former President George W. Bush’s book Decision Points. It alludes to the famous incident where an Iraqi journalist threw his shoe at the President which is a major insult in the Middle East. The cartoonist plays on the idiomatic expression ‘ to be a shoo-in.’
If you are a shoo-in, it means that you are sure and certain to win or be successful at something. It’s an easy victory. It is derived from the verb ‘to shoo’ which means to drive a person or an animal in a certain direction. One way of telling someone to go away is to simply say “Shoo!” while waving your hand in the direction you want them to leave.
It is a common mistake by a lot of English speakers to misspell the idiomatic expression as in the cartoon, though here the cartoonist purposely is playing with the expression.
Political cartoon by Jerry Holbert of The Boston Herald in Massachusetts and published on 12 November 2010.
This cartoon is also by a cartoonist from the political left which criticizes the recommended proposals a congressional committee made to help reduce the US deficit. For the taxpayer, it’s going to cost him an arm and eventually a leg. To cost an arm and a leg is the English equivalent of the French expression ‘coûter les yeux de la tête’ or ‘coûter la peau des fesses.’
Political cartoon by Chuck Asay of The Colorado Springs Gazette published on 06 November 2010.
In this conservative leaning political cartoon, the cartoonist is critical of the government taking control of the student loan business. It is full of good vocabulary.
You see a caricature of Obama leading a classroom discussing how to make college tuition more affordable. First, what is tuition? This is the money you pay to take a class at a college, university or private school.
The caricature of Obama states that it is skyrocketing and need to be made more affordable. This means that cost of going to school has increased very quickly and become very expensive and so something must be done to lower the price so more people can pay for it. Look at this example of the vocabulary in use: Currently the price of gold is skyrocketing and is become less affordable for those who want to buy gold.
In response to how to make tuition more affordable, one of the students suggests that colleges should compete for students in a free market. He believes there should be more competition. This means that a university should try to attract more students by offering better educational services at lower prices than another university.
Mr. Marx, an illusion of course to Karl Marx, has another idea. He believes that the government (he uses the common term the Feds to refer to people working for the US government) should take over the student loan business because a government is too big to fail (tell that to the Soviet Union!). A loan is the money you request to borrow from a bank for which you pay back over time at interest. If something fails, it is unsuccessful and doesn’t work.
At the end of the cartoon, we see the caricature of Obama asking the class who they think is going to flunk his class. In the case of this class, the first student is going to flunk and Mr. Marx is going to pass. If you flunk a class, you fail the class and do not get a good mark or grade. If you succeed and get the necessary grade or mark to move up to the next class or level, you pass it. Congratulations!
Political cartoon by Mike Lester of the Rome News-Tribune in Rome, Georgia and published on 04 November 2010.
There are several expressions we can glean from this political cartoon. According to the cartoonist, President Obama ate humble pie due to the election results. If you eat humble pie, you apologize and face humiliation for a serious error. You can also say that after the elections, Obama has pie on his face. The voters pied him on Tuesday!
Political cartoon by Steve Breen of The San Diego Union-Tribune in California and published on 3 November 2010.
In most polling places in the United States, you are given a “I Voted” sticker when you leave to let others know that you did your civic duty as a voter. In the cartoon, the cartoonist drew a voter with a sticker, “I Vented.” The media described those who voted Tuesday as angry voters and who were very motivated to vote in order to vent their anger. They say it’s very healthy to vent if done in a constructive way. If you vent, you express your feelings of anger very strongly.
Political cartoon by Henry Payne of The Detroit News in Michigan and published on 30 October 2010.
Today is the day for midterm elections in the United States. Many incumbents across the country will probably be ousted and replaced. An incumbent is anyone who has an official, elected position.
To dunk means to put something into a liquid for a short time before taking it out again. Americans like to dunk their doughnuts in coffee.
In the picture, you see current Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Democrat from Nevada) sitting in the tank. He is expected to lose his reelection bid today. It would be the first time in five decades a Senate Majority leaders loses reelection if he does.
Political Cartoon by Dave Granlund of Massachusetts and published on 31 October 2010.
The cartoonist is illustrating how the Republicans, represented by the elephant’s foot, are predicted to crush the Democrats in the midterm elections. The donkey states that the GOP (Grand Old Party, i.e. the Republicans) has a leg up on the midterms. If you have a leg up on somebody, this means that you have the advantage. For an example, if you have more experience than other candidates for a particular job, you probably have a leg up on the other applicants. This expression is American.
Political cartoon by Nate Beeler of The Washington Examiner in Washington, D.C. and published on 27 October 2010.
Sleazy is anything that is dirty, dishonest and very unpleasant. For example, a sleazy politician is one that is dishonest and immoral. If you entered into an unpleasant, dirty area of town which might be high in criminal and/or sexual activity, you might call in a sleazy area of town.
In this cartoon, the cartoonist shows a voter who is trapped and desperate because he is overwhelmed by sleazy attack ads on television being aired by the various political campaigns.
Want to see some of them? Go HERE!
Political cartoon by Jeff Stahler of the The Columbus Dispatch in Ohio and published on 26 October 2010.
If you say something has a downside, it has a disadvantage or negative aspect.
According to this vampire, the downside of staying alive is having to put up with all the television political advertisements. In other words, she had to tolerate or support them. This is now no longer a problem for her, so there’s an upside to everything!
Political cartoon by Gary Varvel from The Indianapolis Star-News published on 21 October 2010.
Every election is said to be the dirtiest ever and this year’s elections are no different. The attack ads in this political election year are being called the dirtiest. In political lingo, this is called mudslinging.
Mudslinging is the practice of making unscrupulous, malicious attacks against an opponent. The person who is slinging mud is called a mudslinger.
The expressions is derived from the words sling and mud. To sling means to throw something with force and carelessly. Careful! It is an irregular verb with ‘slung’ as both the simple past form and the past participle! Mud is what dirt becomes when wet.
Political cartoon by Steve Breen of The San Diego Union-Tribune published on on 21 October 2010.
In next week elections, Californians will be voting on a proposition to legalize marijuana use for recreational purposes in the state. According to recent polls, most voters in California favor the proposition.
The cartoonist is critical of the proposition and mocks the arguments being used to support the proposition. He believes that supporters are simply selling snake oil. The term refers to any product or thing that is questionable, exaggerated, or useless but the salesman is trying to make you believe it is good.
Pot is the slang or street term for marijuana.
Political cartoon by Nate Beeler of The Washington Examiner published on 12 October 2010.
Americans love to see conspiracies and this political cartoon mocks that fact. There are those on the left side of the political spectrum who believe that President George W. Bush orchestrated the attacks of 11 September 2001. Those who believe he planned and organized the terrorist attacks are called ‘Truthers.’
On the right side of the political spectrum, there are those who believe that Obama wasn’t born on American soil and thus not constitutionally eligible to be President of the United States. They are called ‘Birthers.’ These ‘Birthers’ believe this because Obama’s birth certificate has been publically released.
The latest conspiracy was invented by Obama and others at the White House in an attempt to scare voters away from Republicans in the elections. The Chamber of Commerce has recently come under attack by the White House because they oppose Obama’s political agenda. They have now been accused, without any evidence or proof, of accepting foreign money and using that money to fund political ads for Republican candidates.
The White House has been accused, even by many on the left, of misleading the voters because they completely invented the accusation. If you mislead someone, you make them believe something that is incorrect or not true.
Note: You see two other caricatures next to that of Obama’s. The caricature with “Joe” represents Vice President Joseph Biden and the caricature with “Axe” represents David Axelrod, a top political advisor to President Obama. Both of these men participated in the misleading message.
