BBC Learning English – Words in the News / What’s the meaning of a royal name?

Transcript

A little baby with a big name. This is Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, the daughter of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. 

Elizabeth is a tribute to her great-grandmother, the British monarch. 

The baby was also named after her paternal grandmother, the late Princess Diana. 

The birth of the fourth in line to the British throne was marked by gun salutes.  

Vocabulary 

a tribute to
an act done to show respect and admiration to someone 

monarch
sovereign or ruler 

named after
to be called the same as someone else 

the late
the deceased 

in line to
in a queue for something

To do

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from news reports. Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence correctly.

a tribute to / monarch / named after / the late / in line to 

1. A newly described 6ft lizard that roamed South East Asia from 36-40 million years ago has been __________The Doors singer Jim Morrison. 

The choice of name Barbaturex morrisoni is a play on the late frontman’s epithet “The Lizard King”. 

2. Leonard Nimoy fans have been turning the face on a Canadian bank note into his Star Trek character, as __________ the actor who died last week. 

3. A signed first edition of the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude by __________ Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez has been stolen. 

4. For much of his reign, Juan Carlos was seen as one of the world’s most popular _________, but recently many Spaniards have lost confidence in him. 

5. The former head of Saudi intelligence, Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz al Saud, has been named the country’s second deputy prime minister by King Abdullah. 

The appointment puts Prince Muqrin third __________ succeed the 89-year-old Abdullah. 

Answers 

1. A newly described 6ft lizard that roamed South East Asia from 36-40 million years ago has been named after The Doors singer Jim Morrison.

The choice of name Barbaturex morrisoni is a play on the late frontman’s epithet “The Lizard King”.

See story

2. Leonard Nimoy fans have been turning the face on a Canadian bank note into his Star Trek character, as a tribute to the actor who died last week.

See story

3. A signed first edition of the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude by the late Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez has been stolen.

See story

4. For much of his reign, Juan Carlos was seen as one of the world’s most popular monarchs, but recently many Spaniards have lost confidence in him.
 
See story  
 
5. The former head of Saudi intelligence, Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz al Saud, has been named the country’s second deputy prime minister by King Abdullah. The appointment puts Prince Muqrin third in line to succeed the 89-year-old Abdullah.

See story  

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