Rishi Sunak is the UK's new prime minister: BBC News Review

The UK has its third prime minister in seven weeks.

This is News Review from BBC Learning English.

I'm Sian. And I'm Beth.

Make sure you watch to the end to learn vocabulary to talk about this story.

And remember, subscribe to our channel, like this video

and try the quiz on our website.

Now, today's story.

Rishi Sunak has taken over from Liz Truss

after she spent just 45 days in office.

Truss resigned after being heavily criticised

for her economic plan which saw the value of the pound drop significantly.

Rishi Sunak, the UK's first

British Asian prime minister, will have urgent issues to deal with,

including the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

Opposition parties are calling for a general election.

OK. So Beth, you've been looking at the headlines.

What's the vocabulary?

We have 'bruising', 'Rishinomics' and 'steep learning curve'.

This is News Review from BBC Learning English.

OK, let's have a look at our first headline.

This one is from The Times.

OK. So, a bit of context.

Liz Truss beat Rishi Sunak earlier in a leadership contest this summer.

Now, the headline says he's bounced back.

So he's returned quickly.

He's now Prime Minister.

But The Times described that defeat as 'bruising'.

So, a bruise is something you get when you hurt yourself. Right?

Exactly. So, a 'bruise' as a noun

is that kind of dark

area of skin when you walk into a table

or something like that. And if you touch it, it's quite painful.

So, the headline is saying that this was a bruising,

meaning a painful defeat for Rishi Sunak.

Yes. And here it also means that it damages his... or damaged

his reputation or confidence. So, the loss damaged his reputation.

So, like a bruise damages your skin. That's right.

Yeah, and we can hear this adjective 'bruising' in other news headlines,

particularly when it comes to sports. Now Sian, yesterday,

my football team lost, five-nil!

That's a bruising loss, but are there any other words

we could use instead of 'bruising'?

Well, bruising isn't that common,

it's not really heard in everyday conversation.

So, you might describe a defeat or a loss as 'painful', 'bitter'

or sometimes 'sore' as well.

OK, let's have a look at that again.

OK, let's have our next headline.

This one is from The Telegraph.

OK. So, the headline writer

thinks that more pain is coming,

and specifically that Rishinomics will cause this pain.

But, 'Rishinomics', what is that?

It doesn't even sound like a word.

Well, 'Rishinomics' is a playful way of combining his name, Rishi,

with the suffix '-nomics' that comes from economics.

So, literally, 'Rishinomics'

means the economics of Rishi.

OK. So, is it normal to combine a name with the suffix '-nomics'?

Well, it is if you're talking about a politician and their economic policies.

Now, recently, a lot of people have been criticising

-Trussonomics - that's the economic policies of Liz Truss.

And you also might have heard of Reaganomics from the 1980s in the USA.

OK. So, can I start talking about Sianonomics?

Not really, no.

I mean, if you get into government,

and you become in charge of all of finance, then, yes.

Let's hope that never happens.

Let's look at all of that again.

OK, next headline please, Beth

This one is from the Financial Times.

OK. So, the headline says that the new prime minister will need

to face issues on a world stage.

So, that means the whole world will be watching how he does his job. Now,

I know what a curve is, this is a curve,

but what is a 'steep learning curve'?

Well, if you picture a graph,

like this, when he starts his job,

he doesn't have a lot of experience being a prime minister,

but he has to learn a lot

right at the beginning. OK. So, the headline

says or means that at the start of the job

he will learn a lot.

Yes, definitely.

He'll learn a lot quickly, and this learning curve is described as steep.

Now, if you think about a steep hill,

it means it's really difficult

to climb it. It's not like this, easy,

it's steep. So, it's also a difficult job.

Yeah. So, steep really emphasises how quickly

he will need to learn. And can we use this in other situations?

Yes, we can. So, when you start a new job, then

definitely, it can be a steep learning curve.

Also, when you leave home for the first time,

there is a lot to learn very quickly.

How do you cook for yourself?

Do the laundry? All this stuff.

Yeah. If you move to a new country,

and also have to learn a new language, that can be a very steep learning curve.

Definitely. But, if you're in that situation,

don't worry, we're here to help.

So, let's look at that again.

OK. So, we've had 'bruising',

it's painful.

'Rishinomics', the economics of Rishi Sunak.

And 'steep learning curve', learning a lot

very quickly.

Don't forget, there is a quiz on our website,

bbclearningenglish.com Thank you for joining us, goodbye. Bye.