In this football language post we look at a headline from the front page of the Independent newspaper from here in the UK, ‘Rashford Piles Pressure on PM over Free Meals’. You can see more explanations of newspaper headlines here and don’t forget we have hundreds more explanations of football language in our football glossary. If you have questions or comments about this or any other phrase then email us at: admin@languagecaster.com.Newspaper Headline: Rashford Piles Pressure on PM over Free Meals
Normally we look at some of the language used in football headlines but this time we are going to focus on a headline about a footballer and what he has recently been doing. If a football payer is on the front page of the newspaper it probably means that they have done something wrong – sports headlines usually appear on the back page in the UK – but this time the Independent newspaper wants to highlight some more of the good work from England and Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford.
For those who may not know the story, Rashford started a campaign for children in England to receive free meals from the government during the holiday period – when schools are closed. This is because many students do not have access to a hot meal when their schools are closed because of their home economic situation. He started this campaign in the summer as he wanted to highlight the issue as he himself had had to rely on free meals when he was a child. Eventually he forced the government to change their minds on their decision not to give children free meals and such was his popularity that he was awarded a special honour (the MBE). There is another school holiday approaching this week (half-term) and again the government have said they will not give free meals to children which has meant that Rashford has started his campaign again and this time a huge majority of people in the country are supporting him. In fact, many local councils, shops and restaurants are donating free meals to children during the week which is a wonderful gesture and shows the popularity of Rashford and also the shame of the UK government.
The headline itself is a fairly factual one in that it outlines the basic story – Rashford is attacking the government for not feeding children. There are some examples of metonymy in the title, this is when we use a word as a substitute for something else that has a shared meaning, as the headline uses PM, which is short for prime minister but can also mean the government. The verb to pile pressure on means to try and make someone do something in an increasing manner. Rashford’s popularity is so high at the moment that even fans from opposing sides have supported his campaign and hopefully the pressure will make the government change their mind again.
