The Meaning of Headlines: 'eye-watering'

Sky News published an article on 22 December 2016 with the headline: ''Eye-watering' salaries of PM advisers revealed.' What does ‘eye-watering’ mean?

Oxford Dictionaries defines ‘eye-watering’ as ‘causing the eyes to water’ or ‘(especially of a figure or amount) extremely high or large.’ The Free Dictionary defined ‘eye-watering’ as ‘painful or extremely unpleasant.’ MacMillan Dictionary says ‘an eye-watering amount is extremely high or large, and much higher or larger than you would expect.’ It means substantial, considerable, and extensive.

The article states, in the first sentence, that ‘The Prime Minister is accused of breaking promises as it emerges top advisers are earning twice as much as some MPs’ and add that ‘Theresa May's chiefs of staff are paid £140,000 each despite the Prime Minister's pledge to curb the pay of special advisers.’ Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill are among 27 special advisers earning more than the top-bracket salary, and their salaries doubled with their new appointments as advisors.

Given that the British Prime Minister Theresa May earns ‘around £143,000’ and that her advisors are ‘earning nearly double a backbench MP [Member of Parliament], only slightly less than senior Cabinet ministers and about five times the national average wage,’ it would certainly make the average wage earner’s eyes water.

The article concludes with ‘Some of these pay rises are eye-watering.’

Scorecard for the Sky News article’s headline is 100%. Anything painful or unpleasant can make a person’s eyes water. Crying, of course, makes eyes water, but so can irritations, colds and flu, smoke, wind, peeling onions, fumes, allergies, infections, and medical conditions. And someone else’s ‘extremely high or large, and much higher or larger than expected’ salary could make a person’s eyes water too.

http://news.sky.com/story/pm-advisers-eye-watering-salaries-revealed-10704705

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).

Comments

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...

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...

The Knight in the Panther Skin by Shota Rustaveli (2015 translation): book review

The Knight in the Panther Skin (12th century, this edition 2015) is a recent translation by American poet and author, Lyn Coffin. The author, Shota Rustaveli, is Georgia’s most loved poet. This poem is mammoth, a magnum opus – it is 1,656 verses long, separated by chapters. But readers, don’t give up, because every verse is worth reading. It is akin to 1001 Arabian Knights, Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, or Shakespearean poetry. King Rostevan of Arabia has a daughter, Tinatin. She loves the knight Avtandil and he loves her. Verse 368 from Avtandil: ‘The doctor’s could do nothing. A dark twilight on my heart now pressed, I was on fire because of love, but nobody knew or guessed. They blamed my blood. The king decided bleeding my arm would be best; I let it be done to hide the suffering I had not confessed.’ But a knight in panther skin is seen weeping, and subsequently kills the king’s soldiers, sparing the king. Before Tinatin weds Avtandil she r...

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog