In this football language newspaper headline from the Guardian newspaper, we look at the expression,’Saudi Stunner: Argentina Floored in Seismic Shock‘ which is all about the amazing Saudi Arabian victory over Argentina in Group C of the 2022 World Cup. You can see more 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 Headlines – Saudi Stunner: Argentina Floored in Seismic Shock
The Guardian newspaper reported on the Saudi Arabian victory over Argentina from Group C by calling the victory a ‘stunner‘ which means that it was both a shocking victory but also something amazing or impressive. There’s also some alliteration: the ‘S’ sound of ‘Saudi’ and ‘stunner‘ which is typical of newspaper headlines. If the first part of the headline focuses on the winning team (Saudi Arabia), the second part of the headline focuses on the losers (Argentina). They have used some more words beginning with ‘S’ to explain the defeat: ‘seismic shock‘ which is connected to an earthquake – the defeat was so shocking or surprising that it was like an earthquake. The headline goes on to explain that Argentina were floored which is a boxing reference – when a boxer hits another boxer very hard they sometimes fall to the flooor – they have been floored. The result has floored the Argentinian team.
Maybe we could re-write the headline in the following way: The Saudi victory was a really impressive one and it really shocked the Argentinian side.
Related Vocabulary
- To stun
- 2022 World Cup Language Podcast: Saudi Arabia Stun Argentina
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