This cartoon by Paul Thomas from the Daily Express is inspired by speculation that the Duchess of Cambridge is expecting a baby girl, after her slip of the tongue during a public visit to Grimsby on Tuesday. As the Telegraph reports, the duchess was chit-chatting with fans when one woman handed her a teddy bear. Kate reportedly replied, "Thank you, I’ll take that for my d..." then stopped herself. But when a well-wisher asked if she was in the process of saying "daughter" she replied: "We’re not telling."
THE CARTOON
The cartoon shows Kate's father-in-law Prince Charles leaving a betting shop. He is wearing a false moustache and 'joke' glasses to disguise himself. His chauffeur-driven car is waiting for him around the corner. A bystander comments, "He just put £500 (=five hundred pounds) on it being a girl".
EXPLANATION
There are two possible interpretations. Either Charles is betting on the royal baby being a girl because of Kate's slip of the tongue, or he actually knows the sex of the baby (which is more likely).
VOCABULARY
1. If you bet on the result of a horse race, football game, or other event, you give someone a sum of money which they give you back with extra money if the result is what you predicted, or which they keep if it is not.
2. Bet is also a noun. • You can put a bet on almost anything these days. • Do you always have a bet on the Grand National?
3. A betting shop is a place where people can go to bet on something such as a horse race (or who will be the next pope, or the sex of the royal baby, etc.).
4. The odds are the chances that are used for calculating how much money you will get if the person or thing you bet on wins a race or competition. • I didn't bet on the horse because I didn't like the odds. • They're giving odds of 5–1 against a knockout in the first round.
