Reader question:
What does “head start” mean, as in this quote?
“When a fire gets a head start like that it can take a while to get it under control.”
My comments:
When a fire flares up, firefighters must be on hand with all the wherewithal they need to put it out before it gets out of control.
In other words, got to nip it in the bud.
Clearly, however, this is not the case in our example. In our example, the fire has been allowed to burn for some time before firefighters got into full combat mode. Therefore, no doubt, the fire is difficult to put out.
In other words, it “can take a while to get it under control.”
Oh, head start.
“Head start” is a phrase that is derived from horseracing. Literally, it means a small lead obtained at the start of a race.
At the beginning of a race, you see, all the horses are stationed behind the starting gates. When the starting signal is given, all the gates are opened at the same time. The first horse head that emerges from the stalls is the one that has the so-called head start.
Head start, so called because, literally, it means a HEAD’s length of a lead at the START of a race.
Hence, figuratively, head start represents any advantage gained in the early stage of any activity or endeavor.
In our example, the fire is deemed to have this, well, advantage, for lack of a better word. It has the advantage over firefighters because the latter are not around to stop it from getting out of control. Needless to say, it will take some time before firefighters catch up with it.
Only then, will the fire be tamed and extinguished.
Hopefully with nobody getting seriously hurt.
Head start, in short, is an early advantage, which often enables people to win out eventually, be it a sports competition or any other activity.
That happens when they are able to maintain this early lead, of course. They may slacken off or make mistakes, allowing competitors to win coming from behind.
If that happens, all that head-start advantage comes to naught.
In other words, it means nothing.
All right, here are recent media examples of “head start”:
1. The Premier League season has only just started, yet for Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, the Golden Boot race might be running away from him with Erling Haaland in immense form.
The Manchester City striker already has seven goals in three league games, with Haaland scoring back-to-back hat-tricks against Ipswich Town and West Ham to give himself a commanding lead in the goalscoring charts.
With Salah on three goals in three games, it might take quite the effort for the Liverpool winger to overtake the Norwegian international in this season’s race for the Premier League Golden Boot award.
And Tony Cascarino has now shared who he thinks will win the accolade this season between Haaland and Salah.
Speaking on TalkSport, the pundit firmly backed Haaland to beat Salah to the Golden Boot, with Cascarino predicting the City star to break the 30-goal barrier once again for the Manchester giants.
Given the head start Haaland already has on Salah, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Norway international was to once again claim the Golden Boot, with the Liverpool winger already having a mountain to climb.
Cascarino said when asked who will win the Golden Boot between Haaland and Salah: “Last season, Erling got 27 goals in the Premier League. Next best was four behind. Mo does look sharp, I just don’t think Mo can get those numbers that Haaland will get.
“He is a centre-forward, he does take penalties. Yes, Mo Salah takes penalties as well, but I don’t think Mo can match his numbers. I think Mo can get 20+, but I don’t think he can get 30 now in the way that Liverpool are going to play.”
- Pundit now predicts who will win the Golden Boot between Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland, RousingTheKop.com, September 9, 2024.
2. “People think the ocean separates us, but for Polynesians, the ocean is what connects us. We’ve got different instincts when it comes to the sea, which is why Hawaii feels so familiar,” explains Māori surfer Kehu Butler. He’s in Kauai when we speak, stressed by the soundtrack of roosters crowing in the background.
Since forging a relationship with fellow Polynesian surfer Mainei Kinimaka, Kehu has called Kauai his second home. Despite there being 4,760 miles (7,660 kilometers) separating his home in Tauranga, NZ and Mainei’s in Anahola, Kauai, the parallels are vast.
“After I quit doing the Challenger my partner basically told me to do whatever I wanted, so I thought, ‘sweet,’ and came here. It was my first time in Hawaii last year, and I loved everything – the people, the waves, the welcoming vibe. It made me realize how much I wanted to travel through Polynesia and really understand who we are. Since then we’ve traveled all over Polynesia – to Tahiti and Rarotonga, where Polynesians first lived before they migrated north to Hawaii and south to New Zealand. It’s been a journey of learning about ourselves and our origins,” he says.
As a charming side story, when Kehu’s legendary grandfather, Te Kehukehu Butler Sr. – recognizable by his eye patch, bone earring, traditional Māori face tattoos, and snow-white beard – met Mainei’s father, Titus Kinimaka, the connection was instant. “Those two were glued at the hip,” Kehu laughs. “They’re like mirror images of each other – full of knowledge that the rest of us don’t even know exists. It was like watching long-lost brothers reunite.”
Thanks to his deep Polynesian roots Kehu is treated kindly in Kauai’s lineups as a visitor. “Our people look identical. People come up, shake my hand, let me have the inside. The secret? Just be real quiet, and no one can tell where you’re from,” he laughs. “Nah, even when I do talk though, they think of us as siblings because their Polynesian roots are pretty strong.”
Kehu doesn’t mince his words when asked why he stopped competing. “I was surfing bad waves in contests for so long, and I just got tired of it,” he says bluntly. “Ever since I got sponsored by Quiksilver as a nine year old, all I wanted was to surf, get barreled, and get paid for it. Everyone else wanted to be an All Black. But for me, it was always gonna be surfing or the shovel.” Needless to say, doing a signature collection with Quiksilver after an 18-year partnership is a huge milestone.
“Surfing is still new for many Maori. For us, we are super heavy in Waka Ama, which is paddling on the canoes. Waka is also huge in Tahiti, the Cook Islands and here [Hawaii] which is cool. Before wetsuits surfing in NZ would’ve been freezing. So paddling was one of our main sports on the ocean.”
“We’re so tapped into the ocean, and I want to show that pride. It’d be awesome to see more Polynesians in surfing – whether in competitions or just free surfing. If we had a full team of Polynesians, we’d actually have the most tapped-in crew – Zeke [Lau], Imai [Devault], and Matahi [Drollet]. I just want to show young Polynesians that anyone can do it. We’ve got a head start thanks to our ancestors, who taught us how to understand and respect the ocean.”
- “We’ve Got A Head Start On Surfing Thanks To Our Ancestors”, by Ethan Davis, StabMag.com, October 29, 2024.
3. Keir Starmer was already finding life tough as a center-left leader in a world of populist anger.
Now enter Donald Trump – Starmer’s worst nightmare writ large.
The British prime minister is a moderate legal nerd who prizes deliberation and the rule of law. The right-wing Trump – with his shoot-from-the-hip approach, criminal convictions and attempts to subvert the 2020 election – could hardly be a more contrasting figure.
“I don’t think you will find a leader around the world less like Donald Trump than Keir Starmer,” said Tom Baldwin, biographer of the British PM.
Downing Street is braced for fireworks.
Trump defined his first stint in the White House by piling almost as much strain on allied nations as he did on U.S. enemies – over trade, defense spending and, in the British case, Brexit. Some expect Trump 2.0 will be even more aggressive in dealing with international counterparts, and there are now significant added tripwires given the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
“He butted heads pretty good between 2016 and 2020,” said one Republican staffer in Washington given permission to remain anonymous in order to speak freely. “But I feel he thinks he gave way a little bit too much.”
Starmer, elected on a landslide in July, is standing increasingly alone as a powerful center-left leader on the world stage. Both France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Olaf Scholz are struggling, but Starmer has a sizable majority and time on his side.
The British PM already has a few tricks up his sleeve to meet the challenge of dealing with the unpredictable and thin-skinned presidential returnee.
Starmer worked hard to cultivate a personal relationship with the Republican leader in the run-up to the U.S. election. He should also be able to trade on his own landslide election victory over the summer, since Trump respects winners. And if things get too rough, there’s an emergency handle he can pull: roll out King Charles III.
…
Even before his election, Starmer was aware that getting a head start on courting Trump would be a sensible investment in the event the former president returned to the White House.
The president-elect thrives on the personal relationships that lubricate his transactional politics.
Starmer was one of the few world leaders to call Trump following the assassination attempt at an election rally in Pennsylvania in July. The pair spoke for around 10 minutes – their first ever conversation.
The two later met in New York, over a two-hour dinner, while Starmer was in town for a U.N. summit in September. Numerous people briefed on the meeting insist it was a great success, with Trump describing the British PM as a “friend.”
- Why Donald Trump is the British government’s worst nightmare, Politico.eu, November 6, 2024.
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About the author:
Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.
（作者：张欣）
