The Meaning of Headlines: 'cracks up'

The Meaning of Headlines: 'cracks up' - politics

The Canberra Times published a video clip on October 20, 2015, with the headline ‘Katter cracks up the house.’ What does ‘cracks up’ mean?

Bob Katter is an Australian federal politician – an independent for the past ten years – and a member of the House of Representatives. He is also the leader of Katter’s Australian Party – his own party, which he formed in 2011. Therefore ‘the house’ in the headline refers to the House of Representatives, where he was asking a question. So how did Katter ‘crack up’ the house?

Encarta Dictionaries defines ‘cracks up’ as ‘to experience a psychological, or sometimes, physical breakdown, usually because of stress’ – to break down, crack, go to pieces, or lose control. ‘Cracks up’ can also mean ‘to laugh uncontrollably, or cause somebody to laugh uncontrollably.’

Did Katter lose control, go to pieces, or break down? Or did Katter cause the House of Representatives to laugh uncontrollably?

The 1.53 minute video shows Katter asking the house a question. It was a question about the Darwin port sale and outsourcing jobs. Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory with 5% of the country’s population. The Minister for the Northern Territory, Mr. Josh Frydenberg, stood to answer the question. The caption accompanying the video was: Could any other Member of Parliament be so cavalier as to ask a question and walk out halfway through the answer? The answer is yes. Frydenberg began by stating how wonderful Darwin is; the speaker of the house reminds him to answer the question; Frydenberg continues, Katter laughs; Katter walks out of the room; and Frydenberg ‘cracks up’ – he laughs uncontrollably. This is not the wicked, derogatory laugh of most politicians, but an uncontrollaby fit of genuine laughter.

Scorecard for The Canberra Times headline is 100%. Bob Katter did cause uncontrollable laughter in the House of Representatives and he lost control by walking out of the house halfway during the answer. It’s a nice double entendre!

http://media.canberratimes.com.au/video-news/video-national-news/katter-cracks-up-the-house-6943967.html

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