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 Sun’s witty headline of ‘He’s Not The Vidic Idiot’ is on a sport story reporting that Manchester United’s Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic has upped his wages from £70,000 a week to £90,000. He has signed a two year extension to his current contract on improved terms after interest from Real Madrid’s Jose Mourinho.
The headline makes a play on the phrase “the village idiot”, which describes a stupid or ignorant person well known for low intelligence in their village or town. Of course in this case, the footballer Vidic is certainly not the ‘village idiot’.