Every day, we are taking a word that is being used in the media about The London Olympics, explaining it and telling you how to use it. Some other words that may be new to you (highlighted in bold) will also have a definition in the vocabulary glossary at the bottom of the page. Olympic Word of the day No#4 –
FARCICAL
absurdo, farsesco, ridicule, possenhaft, ばかげた, фарсовый, كوميدي, abuk sabuk, 滑稽的, ridículo, 익살맞은, śmieszny, farsowy, γελοίος, מגוחך, nevetséges
Definition
Adjective: having ridiculous or absurd aspects 
Example: In a farcical situation in the first 10 seconds, England let San Marino walk through their defence to open the scoring 1- 0 Synonyms: ridiculous, absurd, ludicrous, preposterous, pointless, stupid, crazy
Olympic Story
Yesterday the scenes on the Olypmic Badminton courts descended into farce as the female Chinese doubles team tried to throw their match. Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli (the top seeds in the tournament) started deliberately playing badly; serving into the net and shooting wide on purpose. The pair had already qualified for the next round and were trying to lose so as to avoid their Chinese compatriots (seeded no#2) until they reach the final. Their South-Korean opponents started doing the same and the crowd began booing at the farcical scenes. It became so ridiculous that the referee warned the players over their conduct and threatened them with disqualification. Afterwards of course, nobody admitted they had done anything wrong. The Chinese players said that it was a tough match and the South Koreans said that they only started playing to lose because the Chinese did it first. However, the World Badminton Federation is holding a hearing about the ridiculous events and will make a decision later today. It's not in keeping with the Olympic spirit is it, to not do your best and try to lose!
What's your opinion?
Should these players be banned from the rest of the competition? Is this normal behaviour for sports teams to try to avoid the best players and the Olympics is no different?
Vocabulary Glossary
- descended into farce
- for sth to become ridiculous
- to throw a match
- to deliberately attempt to lose a game/ to play badly so that you can not win
- to do sth on purpose
- to do sth deliberately
- compatriots
- people from the same country as you
- opponents
- people you play a game against
- booing
- to make a noise to show you don't like sth, especially at a sports contest or performance
