On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.
—David Ogilvy
Indeed, headlines are arguably more important than the article itself… They need to be tricky, unique, creative, super-clickable, irresistible and even sexy:) …. so as to grab people’s attention in just a few seconds. BUT, also for that reason, headlines are often rather difficult to understand for non-native speakers of English. So, why not expand your vocabulary by scanning the headlines DAY by DAY? Below you will find recent headlines taken from various newspapers, with terms and expressions well worth learning. Guess the meaning of the expressions marked in red and check your answers in the VocabList below. Enjoy!
CU tomorrow for the next round of headlines!
Reluctant sanctuary – Will Germany embrace or shun refugees?
For a detailed explanation of the migrant crisis in graphics, click HERE!
COP21 celebrations but governments must mind the emissions gap
‘Youth’ scoops three gongs at European Film Awards in Berlin
Robin Williams’ Will Puts Disney in a Quandary
VocabList
reluctant = not really willing to do something
sanctuary = a protected, safe place for those who are being hunted (here=migrants)
to embrace = (here) to welcome
to shun = to avoid, to ignore
COP21 = Conference of the Parties (=parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change); their formal meetings are held as United Nations Climate Change Conferences / COP21 stands for the Conference held in Paris, France
to mind = (here) to give attention to something
to scoop = to get many prizes (or votes)
gong = (here) an honour given to a performer
will = an official document stating what a person has decided should be done with the money after their death
to be in a quandary = not to know what to do in a situation you are involved in
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