The Meaning of Headlines: 'heave-ho'

The Meaning of Headlines: 'heave-ho' - employment

An article published on 16 October 2016 appeared in Sky News with the headline: Public clamour after bell ringers given heave-ho. What does heave-ho mean?

Heave-ho is an interjection or an exclamation. Heave-ho! The Oxford Dictionaries defines heave-ho as a ‘cry emitted when doing actions that take physical effort.’ For example, as a person lifts a weight, the person might shout heave-ho. It is also a noun, meaning ‘dismissal or elimination from a job.’ If a person is given the heave-ho at work, that person is being sacked, fired, let go, dismissed.

The article is about bell ringers at York Minister in England. All 30 volunteer (unpaid) bell ringers – people that pull the cords to make bells ring – also called campanologists – were fired on Tuesday 11 October. The bells will remain silent until a new team of bell ringers will be recruited next year. The article adds that more than 11,100 people created a clamour (a noise of protest) and signed a petition calling for the fired bell ringers to be re-instated. They are, after all, volunteers – performing work because they want to, not because they are paid to.

The current group of bell ringers were stunned at the decision, saying that they were loyal and dedicated ringers. One of the bell ringers has been ringing the York Minster bells for 30 years. With no bell ringers until next year, who will ring in the festive season, and who will ring in the New Year? If there is no bell rings during this year’s festive season, it will break a tradition that dates back to the 14th century.

York Minister officials plan to appoint a new, paid, Head of Bell Tower, who will recruit new volunteers, stating that they are ‘committed to having a fully trained, motivated and engaged body of staff and volunteers by 2020. Since 2014 we’ve been working with our groups of volunteers to introduce a consistent standard of recruitment, induction, training and development.’ The officials also want to ensure a consistent approach to health and safety. ‘In order to make these changes we sometimes need to close existing volunteering roles so that we can move forward with the new process.’ The officials said that the existing bell ringers can apply for the new volunteer roles next year.

The Scorecard for the Sky News headline is 100%. Clamour has two meanings: the public noise of protest, and the noise of the bells. Heave-ho has two meanings: a shout when pulling the heavy bell cords to make the bells ring, and the dismissal, sacking, of the volunteer bell ringers. The use of clamour and heave-ho in the one headline accurately reveals the plight of the volunteer bell ringers in a clever double double entendre (figure of speech that has double meaning). Yes, a double double entedre! And that’s worth ringing the bells for.

http://news.sky.com/story/public-clamour-after-bell-ringers-given-heave-ho-10619643

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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. ...

Apes go to the movies - and remember the scenes

Apes remember major events in movies, even after a single viewing. That’s the findings of primate research in Japan (New Scientist, September 17, 2015). Researchers at the Kyoto University in Japan conducted experiments with two species of apes – chimpanzees and bonobo primates – to test their memory and recall. Instead of using food to test memory, they used films. The researchers made two short movies to show to the apes. Fumihiro Kano and his colleague, Satoshi Hirata, starred in the films with another person dressed as an ape. They wanted to have strong dramatic scenes to see if the apes remembered them. In the first 30-second movie the character ape bursts through a door on the right hand side (there is also a door on the left hand side) and attacks the two researchers (characters) 18 seconds after the start. After 24 seconds a human character choses one of two weapons next to each other and launched a revenge attack on the ape. In the second 30-second movie t...

The acacia thorn trees of Kenya

There are nearly 800 species of acacia trees in the world, and most don’t have thorns. The famous "whistling thorn tree" and the Umbrella Thorn tree of Kenya are species of acacia that do have thorns, or spines. Giraffes and other herbivores normally eat thorny acacia foliage, but leave the whistling thorn alone. Usually spines are no deterrent to giraffes. Their long tongues are adapted to strip the leaves from the branches despite the thorns. The thorny acacia like dry and hot conditions. The thorns typically occur in pairs and are 5-8 centimetres (2-3 inches) long. Spines can be straight or curved depending on the species. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Suda...

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog