Vocabulary In the News : The Guardian (Front Page Headline from 23 November 2010)

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A bailout is an economic term that we’ve been hearing a lot these last few years. This is the money given or lent to a person or organization with financial problems in order to save them. Ireland is the latest EU country after Greece to get a bailout package. However, according to the headline, the bailout is ending in turmoil.

If something is in turmoil, it is in a state of extreme confusion, chaos or agitation. They fear that this economic turmoil is going to spread to other European countries such as Portugal or Spain. In other words, the crisis will proliferate across the EU.

The crisis is provoking political turmoil as well in Ireland. The Taoiseach, the head of the Irish government,  is at bay as the ruling coalition disintegrates. If something or someone is at bay, this means that they are cornered or trapped. The Irish leader is under tremendous pressure to step down and to call for new elections.

Cartoon : Wall Street’s Bailout After Screwing Up Royally

See Cartoons by Cartoon by John Darkow - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

- To bail someone or something out is when you help someone or an organization in financial difficulty. Various governments around the world, in an attempt to prevent the collapse of banks, bailed them out with government capital. This act is called a bailout.

- To screw up is an informal expression that means to make a serious mistake and if you want to say you made a really big mistake, you say, “I screwed up royally.”

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?