In this programme, a rise in fake bond threats on planes.

Hello.

I'm Georgie.

And I'm Pippa.

In this programme, we look at one big news story and the vocabulary in the headlines that will help you understand it.

You can find all the vocabulary and headlines from this episode as well as a worksheet on our website bbclearningenglish.com.

So let's hear more about this story.

A large rise in hoax bomb threats has caused chaos around the world with flights having to land in the wrong places or turn around.

Now, a hoax bomb threat is where someone says they have put a bomb somewhere but they're lying.

They can cause lots of problems for airlines and passengers because airlines and authorities have to take the threats seriously in case they're real.

In the last week, there have been at least 90 fake threats targeting mostly Indian airlines.

Now, our first headline is about one of the bomb threats that affected a flight from Mumbai in India to Heathrow in London.

This is from The Standard, which is based in the UK.

It says, RAF Typhoon Fighters scrambled as Heathrow-bound flight latest target of bomb threats.

That headline again from The Standard in the UK.

RAF Typhoon Fighters scrambled as Heathrow-bound flight latest target of bomb threats.

This headline is talking about the RAF, that's the Royal Air Force in the UK, who had to send planes to help after one of the fake bomb threats.

Now, we're looking at this word scrambled.

Pippa, what does it mean in the headline?

Well, it has quite a specific military meaning here.

So when a plane is scrambled, it means it's been ordered to do something and moved into a specific position quickly.

So it just means that the planes have been moved to help with the threat very quickly.

But we can also use scramble as a verb in different contexts.

It has a slightly different meaning.

So if you scramble, it means you move quickly, urgently, and maybe not very gracefully.

For example, if there's a good sale in a shop, people might scramble towards something they want.

They rush to get it quickly.

Yeah, and we can also use scrambled as an adjective.

So I quite like to eat scrambled eggs in the morning for breakfast, and that's eggs that are all mixed around as they're cooked.

That helps with the meaning of scrambled.

It means things that are mixed up, maybe difficult to kind of understand or separate.

So radio signals could be scrambled.

They're mixed up and difficult to understand.

Or if you weren't sure about something, you were confused, you could say that your brain is scrambled.

Your thoughts are all mixed around.

Exactly.

We've had scramble move quickly and urgently.

For example, I scrambled to get to the front of the crowd to see my favourite band.

I wanted to get an amazing view.

This is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.

Today we're talking about hoax bomb threats targeting Indian airlines.

So the fake threats have been targeting mostly Indian airlines, such as Indigo and Air India.

The bomb threats have been made using email and anonymous social media accounts.

Many flights have had to stop at the wrong airport or return to where they came from so that passengers can get to safety and the plane can be checked for bombs.

Even though no dangers are found, the delays cost the airlines money.

And we have a headline here about the impact of the hoax threats.

It's from the Times of India, and it says, False threats, real losses.

Airlines see red as they lose money and passenger goodwill.

That headline again from the Times of India.

False threats, real losses.

Airlines see red as they lose money and passenger goodwill.

So this headline says the threats mean airlines are losing money and goodwill.

Goodwill is customer trust and satisfaction about the situation.

Obviously, it's very annoying if your flight is cancelled or you end up in the wrong country.

We're looking at the expression, see red.

So are the airlines actually seeing red things in the sky, Georgie?

No, Pippa, this is a metaphorical phrase.

In British cultural context, red is usually associated with anger.

So if someone sees red, it means they become angry.

Right, and it's quite a dramatic phrase, isn't it?

Yes, we use the phrase, see red, to talk about the moment that we become very angry about something.

So for example, I was in a restaurant the other day and a man had been waiting a really long time for his meal.

And when the food finally came, it was the wrong meal and I could just see that he saw red.

He was shouting at everyone.

He was clearly very angry.

OK, so in the headline, the airlines see red, they've become angry about the fake threats.

Exactly.

But there's also another clever meaning in this headline.

When we talk about money, we sometimes describe having debt or losses as being in the red.

Right, so the headline is also talking about the financial impact of the hoax threats and how that's made airlines angry.

Yes.

We've had see red become very angry.

For example, anytime I hear Christmas music in October, I just see red.

There's absolutely no reason to start playing it that early.

This is Learning English from the News from BBC Learning English.

We're talking about bomb hoaxes which have caused delays and chaos for airline passages in India and around the world.

So there's been a big increase in the number of hoaxes recently, but what's being done about the problem?

Well, last week, Indian authorities arrested a 17-year-old who they believe created hoaxes for four flights on social media.

But the Indian government wants to do more about the problem.

The Indian Civil Aviation Minister has suggested people who make fake threats could be put on a no-fly list, meaning they won't be able to travel by plane in the future.

Let's have another headline.

This one's from The Week in India.

Faced with flurry of bomb hoaxes, government mulls law revamp.

OK, that headline again.

Faced with flurry of bomb hoaxes, government mulls law revamp.

And that's from The Week in India.

So this headline is talking about the response to the flurry of bomb hoaxes.

That means lots of hoaxes in a short period and a possible law revamp, a change to the law.

Now, we're interested in this word mulls.

Government mulls law revamp.

Yes, this comes from a common English expression to mull something over.

If we mull something over, we think about it carefully.

Yes, we usually use mull something over for big decisions that might take a lot of time or lots of thought.

For example, if your company asks you to relocate to another city, you might need to mull it over before you can accept the new job.

In this context, we almost always say mull something over.

But sometimes the phrase mull something over is shortened to just mull, like in the headline.

It means the same thing, to think about something carefully or to consider it.

Yes, so in this headline, government mulls law revamp, it means the government is thinking about things carefully and considering whether changing the law could help stop the fake bomb threats.

We've had mull, think about something carefully.

For example, I've found my dream house but it's more expensive than I was hoping.

I need a few days to mull it over before I can make an offer.

That's it for this episode of Learning English from the News.

We'll be back next week with another news story.

If you've enjoyed this programme, why not try our Learning English for Work podcast?

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Bye.