A selection of headlines from stories in the news. They use English in a way that you might think is intended to confuse but it’s all perfectly clear to the native speaker.
The News of the World indulged in a bit of toilet humour for their headline – ‘Poodunnit?’ – in a story about a suspected drug mule who has not been to the toilet for more than a month, trying to hang on to a cocaine pouch police believe is hidden in his stomach. The man has refused to have an x-ray and police say he is eating as little as possible to try and prevent nature taking its course. Uxbridge Magistrates Court in North West London have ruled that the 49 year old Brit, who had flown in from Columbia, must stay in the custody of the UK Border Agency until he has been to the toilet. The headline is a play on ‘poo’ which is another word for excrement or the act of defecating and ‘dunnit’ as in whodunnit, another word for a police mystery story.