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.
Michael Jackson continues to crop up in the headlines, long after his death. The Sun’s headline of ‘I’m Burgered’ refers to a story by his hairdresser Karen Faye who claims that Jackson feared he would have to work in McDonald’s if he did not perform his concerts at London’s O2 arena organised by promoters AEG. “He was scared to death because AEG was funding everything. He said he’d have to work at McDonald’s if he didn’t do these shows,” she said. The headline is a play on ‘I’m buggered’ which can be used as slang for ‘I’m in trouble’ thus substituting burgered as in McDonald’s burger for buggered.