The Meaning of Headlines: 'brickbats'

The Meaning of Headlines: 'brickbats' - transport

The (Adelaide) Advertiser announced on June 11, 2015, that there was ‘Praise and brickbats for revised O-Bahn plan.’ What does ‘brickbats’ mean?

The name, O-Bahn Busway, is a derivative of omnibus (O), meaning ‘for all people’ and bahn, the German word for railway. It is an extension to the existing 1986 guided rapid bus transit system servicing the northeastern suburbs of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It currently carries an estimated 31,000 people per week day.

The government’s O-Bahn project is a transport intervention costing $160 million to reduce traffic congestion in the city, which was revised to reflect community and business concerns. The changes included extending an underground component of the bus tunnel so that it surfaces closer to Grenfell Street in the city, creating an extra 50 car parking spaces on roads nearby.

Dictionary.com defines brickbats as ‘pieces of broken brick, especially ones used as missiles’ and ‘an unkind or unfavorable remark; caustic criticism.’ Hence the headline intends to show that the plan for the O-Bahn extension has received both praise and criticism. Therefore, let’s look for evidence of both praise and criticism in the article.

The Advertiser states that ‘The changes were widely welcomed by community and business groups, who had campaigned against the project’ because they said the transport extension would ‘butcher’ a park. The article adds that the government ‘backflipped on the most controversial aspects of the O-Bahn extension.’ The conclusion was that ‘Traffic congestion on one of the city’s main thoroughfares as a result of the O-Bahn extension has not been fixed despite revised plans.’ Therefore, indeed, the article shows that the O-Bahn extension has received both praise and criticism.

Scorecard for The Advertiser headline: 100%. Although people no longer throw brickbats, they certainly can hurl insults and criticism for something they don’t like – in this case, the response from the government to revise the transport plan to meet community concerns. The use of the term ‘brickbats’ is therefore interesting, because it denotes stronger resentment of the plan than merely stating that the community had ‘concerns.’

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass...

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing...

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog