The Meaning of Headlines: 'stomach bugs'

The Meaning of Headlines: 'stomach bugs' - nutrition

The Advertiser published an article on September 30, 2015, with the headline ‘Could you stomach bugs? Our future may depend on it.’ What does ‘stomach bugs’ mean?

Usually when people hear or read about ‘stomach bugs’ they refer to bugs in the stomach – germs and other nasty bugs that make people sick. The medical definition of a ‘stomach bug’ is gastroenteritis or infectious diarrhea – yes, the runs! It’s not pleasant. Gastroenteritis is an inflammation of the small intestine that causes cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea. It’s referred to as ‘stomach bugs’ because the illness is caused by bacteria, bacterial toxins and parasites. Parasites are visible organisms, and include worms, tapeworms, liver flukes, and fleas. Real bugs.

But wait, this article is not about stomach bugs of the gastroenteritis kind. No, it’s about beetle bread and chocolate coated crickets and … the food chain: bugs – insects – that people can eat.

The article mentions the global food crisis – the shortage of food and the problem in feeding the world’s population. The article adds that insects are edible and are natural sources of protein, minerals, and nutrients. Insects could become a lucrative food industry. Because eating insects is not conventional, ’minced bugs may sound icky’ say researchers at the University of Adelaide in South Australia. People think insects – like crickets, grasshoppers, mealworms, ants, beetles, and cockroaches – are awful things to eat. People cannot bear to put insects into their mouths, let alone actually swallow them. The researchers think that people will need to overcome their ‘food prejudices’ if people don’t want to starve.

So the phrase ‘could you stomach bugs?’ is not using the word ‘stomach’ as an adjective (to describe the bugs), but as a verb. In other words, ‘to stomach something.’ What does ‘to stomach’ mean?

‘To stomach’ is defined in the Free Dictionary as ‘to desire’ or ‘to tolerate’ or ‘to bear’ or ‘to eat’ or ‘to digest.’ The headline is asking readers ‘Can you eat bugs?’ or more specifically ‘Can you bear (or dare) to eat bugs?’

The article has an interesting sub-heading, ‘When it Comes to the Crunch’ – meaning two things. ‘Crunch’ is ‘to crush with the teeth making a loud but muffled grinding noise’ according to Oxford Dictionaries. It is just the sound that eating shelled cockroaches and insects would make! ‘When it comes to the crunch’ means ‘a crucial point or situation, typically one at which a decision with important consequences must be made.’ Just like the important decision about global nutrition.

Scorecard for The Advertiser headline is 100%. The headline is interesting, catchy, evocative, emotive, and expressive. It has a relevant double entendre (double interpretation) whereby readers might associate eating bugs (ants and cockroaches) with getting a stomach bug (vomiting and diarrhea). Therefore it is a headline that leads into an article that challenges people’s tastes and thinking.

http://blogs.adelaide.edu.au/research/

2016 update on Rike Park, Tbilisi: from construction to busy park

From a flat patch of uninteresting dirt, Rike Park in Tbilisi, Georgia, has transformed in four years (from 2014-2016) into a busy park full of trees, flower beds, sculptures, fountains, and events. Rike (Rikhe) Park is on the left bank of the Mt’k’vari River (the Kura River) near the Old City of Tbilisi. The Peace Bridge links the right bank to Rike Park. Rike Park is below the hillside Presidential Palace and, via cable car, it is the starting point for the ride to Sololaki Ridge (with the Narikala Fortress and the Mother of Georgia statue). The glass box-shaped cable car terminus was opened on 23 June 2012, and since then the park has continually developed into a ‘people’s park’ where people can walk around, eat at the nearby restaurants, sit next to the statue of American president Ronald Reagan, climb the steps to Avlabari district, and access the sights of Meidan Square, the Peace Bridge, the Metekhi Church, the Old City, the waterfall, the sulphur baths, and t...

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. ...

Hop on hop off bus tourism comes to Tbilisi, Georgia

City Sightseeing buses have arrived in Tbilisi. The iconic red double-decker buses, a feature of many cities around the world since the company was established in Seville, Spain in 1999, is now in six continents and almost 100 cities. The company established its Tbilisi business in November 2013, with its operations commencing in February 2014. The 90-minute tour stops at 11 major locations in Tbilisi (with 2 to 5 minute waiting times at each location): the Old City (where it commences), Freedom Square, Rose Revolution Square, Marjanishvili Square, the Dry Bridge, Konka, Avlabari, Metekhi, Akhundov Museum, the Sulfur Baths, and European Square. Passengers can hop off at any stop and see the sights, hopping back onto the next bus at any time. Alternatively, passengers can remain on the bus for the whole tour and take photographs when the bus stops at each location. There are one day (24-hour) passes (for 35 lari – about $20) and 48-hour passes for 55 lari, with family d...

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog