From the naming of Princess Charlotte to the introduction of 5p plastic bags, Pugh has covered some of the biggest stories of the year in his unique and hilarious Daily Mail cartoons. Other topics included Britain's binge drinking culture and the threat of delinquent seagulls. Today MailOnline has a pick of the 20 best cartoons which kept us laughing throughout 2015. From a language learning point of view, many of the cartoons illustrate useful expressions or grammatical structures. Here are three which will give you a taste of Pugh's wit. You can view all of them here.
COMMENTARY
On 5 October supermarkets in England started charging 5p for using plastic bags. The cartoon shows a couple who have just been shopping at a supermarket. Their arms are full of shopping and they're dropping things on the ground. The woman criticises the man for refusing to spend money on plastic bags. Note the expression "Mr I'm-not-spending-5p-on-a-plastic-bag". This is a construction in which something someone has said or done is used to describe them, the words being connected by hyphens. Here is another example: Excuse me Mr. I’m-Not-Going-To-Stop-So-You-Better-Move-Over-Quickly: Please slow down on that two-wheeler and be conscious of my safety.
COMMENTARY
This cartoon refers to a story from March. Researchers at the University of Bristol found that having 'one large glass of wine' makes the drinker 'more attractive' to others. In the cartoon, the woman, who has been reading an article on the study, makes a sarcastic comment about her husband, whose face is hidden behind a couple of glasses of wine.
COMMENTARY
In July the Mail had an article about 'Killer seagulls', which were attacking holidaymakers. In the cartoon, a couple are walking along the seafront. The man's wife is being carried off by seagulls. He hasn't noticed and comments, "If you ignore the gulls they'll ignore you." Note the use of the First Conditional to talk about something that will happen (the result), if a particular condition (which is likely to happen) is met. Unfortunately, in this case the man gets it wrong!
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• The magic of Mac! A salute to the Mail's peerless cartoonist (MailOnline)
