Senegal's democratic crisis: BBC News Review

Democratic crisis in Senegal,

as elections are delayed.

This is News Review from BBC

Learning English, where we help you understand news headlines in English.

I'm Neil. And I'm Georgie.

Make sure you watch to the end to learn the vocabulary

you need to talk about this story.

Don't forget to subscribe to our channel

so you can learn more English from news headlines. Now, the story.

Senegal - one of the most stable democracies in West Africa.

Now, that's under threat.

With only three weeks to go a law has been passed which delays elections

and keeps President Macky Sall in power for ten more months. Protesters clashed

with riot police outside Parliament on Monday.

You've been looking at the headlines, Georgie.

What's the vocabulary

people need to understand this story in English?

We have 'looms', 'hangs by a thread' and 'baffled'.

This is News Review from BBC Learning English.

Let's have a look at our first headline.

This one's from the Financial Times.

Constitutional crisis looms in Senegal after President Macky Sall delays vote.

  This headline is about

how the delay to Senegal's elections may cause a constitutional crisis.

Now, a constitutional crisis is

when there's a big disagreement about how government is run,

but we are looking at the word 'looms'. Georgie,

what can you tell us about 'looms'?

Sure. Well, if something

looms, it means that

it's coming soon. It's used for something negative.

So, something negative is about to happen.

Yes, and in this case, the constitutional crisis is the thing that's seen as bad.

It's the thing that looms, because the delay could threaten democracy.

That's right. But we can use this word

whenever a worrying situation seems likely to happen.

We could say that as the world heats up, more environmental disasters

loom. Yes, or a healthcare crisis looms

when a new disease

with no cure spreads.

Now, are there any other uses or meanings of 'looms'?

Actually, yes. It is used in a more physical way as well.

So if something or someone bigger than you looms over you,

they appear over you in a threatening way.

Imagine we're in a horror movie,

we're in a dark forest,

I turn around a tree and suddenly a horrifying monster looms over me.

That is pretty scary!

Let's look at that again.

Let's have our next headline.

This one's from the Economist.

Senegal's democracy hangs by a thread.

So we know that a constitutional crisis is looming, and from the context

then we are clear that 'hangs by a thread'- the expression are looking at -

cannot be a good thing.

Can you break it down for us?

Yes, let's start with 'thread'. So, a thread is a long, thin piece of fibre, like cotton,

that is used to make materials and this is my ring

and it's hanging by a thread. It's supported by the thread at the top,

but not at the bottom.

It's hanging. Yeah.

So if something hangs by a thread.

It's not very safe or secure or strong.

No, so according to the headline Senegal's democracy is hanging by

a thread. It is not as strong as it was. So, Georgie.

When else can we use 'hangs by a thread'?

Well, the idiom means that a situation is delicate.

It is in danger of failing, collapsing, or coming to an end.

So if a company is having financial difficulties.

The employees may feel that their jobs are hanging by a thread.

They don't feel safe or strong.

Let's look at that again.

  Let's have our next headline.

This one's from ACI Africa.

"Baffled by what's going on": Archbishop

in Senegal on postponing general elections.

So, this headline is about an archbishop's reaction

to this postponement

in the elections in Senegal. An archbishop

is a very senior person in the church and a postponement is a delay,

but we are looking at this word

'baffled', which is a lovely sounding word.

But what does it mean? 'Baffled' means extremely confused.

The archbishop doesn't understand

the President's decision to delay the election

with just three weeks to go. Now,

Georgie, I'm extremely confused.

In fact, I'm baffled because we already have this word

'confused' in English.

Why do we need another one, 'baffled'?

Well Neil, when you reach a certain level of English,

it's good to have a variety of words

so you don't get stuck

using the same ones

all the time, and 'baffled' is a good one. We use it a lot

and it feels so nice to say

doesn't it - 'baffled'. Other words

you can use to mean confused

are 'perplexed' and 'bewildered'

although these are a little less common.

So 'baffle' can that be used in other ways.

Yes, it's also used as a verb.

So just like you can confuse someone you can baffle someone.

Neil, you baffle me when you turn up to work in the middle of winter

without a coat on. Well, there's nothing baffling about

that. I don't think you need a coat

unless it's below zero.

Let's look at that again.

We've had 'looms' -

something worrying is coming soon. 'Hangs by a thread' -

something is in danger of failing. And 'baffled' -

extremely confused. Now if you're interested in stories about politics, click here.

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Thanks for joining us.

And goodbye. Bye.