Cartoon: The Eurozone Whirlpool

In this cartoon from The Independent, Schrank uses a visual metaphor for the eurozone debt crisis. EU leaders are portrayed as ducks being sucked into a eurozone whirlpool. We can assume that the duck which has already disappeared into the hole is former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou. Next in line is outgoing Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi. Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel are swirling round on the outside, while David Cameron looks on in dismay (the UK is not part of the eurozone but risks being tipped into recession by the eurozone debt crisis).

COMMENT

It's possible that the cartoonist was also thinking about the expression 'to go down the plughole'. A plughole is the small hole in a bath or sink which allows the water to drain away. If something goes down the plughole, it is wasted or ruined.

• Austerity measures are hurting and without the necessary rate cut to help with the pain, Portugal could be heading down the plug hole.

Learning English from Cartoons: Berlusconi Fiddles While Rome Burns.

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Popular legend has it that the  Roman Emperor Nero played the fiddle (a colloquial term for the violin) during the   Great Fire of Rome in AD 64. This story has given rise to the idiom "fiddling while Rome burns", which means to occupy oneself with unimportant matters and neglect priorities during a crisis.

In this cartoon from The Sun, Andy Davey portrays Italian Prime Minister (but not for much longer) Silvio Berlusconi as the Emperor fiddling while Rome burns, a metaphor for the Cavaliere's failure to take decisive action to combat Italy's rapidly worsening debt crisis, distracted as he is by corruption trials and sex scandals (hence the bevy of beautiful maidens fleeing the flames).

VOCABULARY

In informal English to fiddle also means 'to produce false results or records, in order to get money or other benefits'.

• They all fiddle their taxes. 

Fiddle the figures/books/accounts: 

They accused the government of fiddling the unemployment figures.
In fact, Berlusconi has been accused of tax fraud and false accounting, which adds another possible layer of meaning to the cartoon.

ORIGIN:

The source of this phrase is the story that Nero played the fiddle (violin) while Rome burned, during the great fire in AD 64. [Link]
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LEARNING ENGLISH FROM CARTOONS: Berlusconi Gets The Boot

This cartoon by Adams from The Telegraph relates to Silvio Berlusconi's decision to resign (though not quite yet) after a crucial budget vote win by the embattled Italian PM was overshadowed by a rash of defections that saw his ruling coalition lose its majority. 

COMMENTARY

The cartoon shows a trouserless Berlusconi being kicked by the map of Italy, which does in fact resemble a leg wearing a boot. The image symbolizes the Italian people's dissatisfaction with their much-ridiculed Prime Minister. 

Two idioms come to mind. If you get the boot or are given the boot, you are told that you are not wanted any more, either in your job or by someone you are having a relationship with. And if you get your ass kicked (butt in the USA), you are punished or defeated.

All these expressions are informal.

Adapted from: theenglishblog – 9^th November 2011.