Rob Cameron, BBC News, Prague [vocabulary]

enfant terrible
here, an artist who has become well-known because of his or her very innovative, avant-garde, even shocking artwork (the expression comes from French) -teruk [sekali] - dahsyat -

......The weather was terrible.
.....We have just received some terrible news.

enfant terrible
noun [C] plural enfants terribles FORMALa famous or successful person who likes to shock people: -enfant - pelawak-

.....In the seventies he was the enfant terrible of the theatre.

several eyebrows were raised
some people were surprised

eyebrow
noun [C]the line of short hairs above each eye in humans: -kening -alis-

......Do you pluck your eyebrows (= remove some of the hairs to change their shape)?
......He's got really bushy (= thick) eyebrows.


raise (a few) eyebrows
to shock or surprise people -memyebabkan seorang angkat keningnya- mengangkat kening- terkejut

.......Anna's miniskirt raised eyebrows at the board meeting.
.......The player's huge transfer fee raised a few eyebrows in the football world.

raised eyebrows
There were raised eyebrows and coughs of disapproval when the speaker turned up drunk for the lecture.

They were not raised in vain
their surprise turned out to be justified/well founded

in vain
unsuccessful or useless: - sia-sia

......I tried in vain to start a conversation.
.....All the police's efforts to find him were in vain.

Entropa
a non-existent word formed as the combination of 'entropy' - a measure of the disorder in a system - and 'Europa', the word for 'Europe' in many European languages


snap-out
that you can detach/take out -melepaskan diri dari belenggu - berhenti buat begitu- dia menjadi riang - cerai-pisahkan

snap out of sth
phrasal verb INFORMALto force yourself to stop feeling sad and upset:

........He just can't snap out of the depression he's had since his wife died.
.........Now come on, snap out of it. Losing that money isn't the end of the world.

the crudest national stereotypes.
here, the fixed ideas people have about different European nations that can be completely inaccurate

crude
(RUDE) - adjective -brude and offensive :-mentah - [caranya] kasar - tidak sopan
......a crude remark/comment

stereotypes
stereotype noun [C] DISAPPROVING
a fixed idea that people have about what someone or something is like, especially an idea that is wrong: - menganggap atau mempunyai prasangka bahawa seseorang atau sesuatu itu mempunyai ciri2 tertentu atau kebolehan tertentu kerana ia tergolong dalam kumpulan tertentu- membuat tanggapan streotaip -
- gambar atau idea yang biasa tentang seseorang - sesuatu

.....racial/sexual stereotypes
.......He doesn't conform to/fit/fill the national stereotype of a Frenchman.
.......The characters in the book are just stereotypes.

stereotype
verb [T] DISAPPROVING to have a fixed idea about what a particular type of person is like, especially an idea that is wrong:

......The study claims that British advertising stereotypes women.
........We tried not to give the children sexually stereotyped toys.


stereotypical
adjective DISAPPROVINGhaving the qualities that you expect a particular type of person to have:
.......Customers are tired of the stereotypical, fast-talking salesperson.


a Turkish toilet
a squat-down toilet with no seat (informally, often referred to as a '[lubang] hole in the floor' or 'hole in the ground')


minarets poking through the waves
......tall thin towers on or near mosques showing above the sea waters

minarets
menara

poke
(PUSH) verb [T] to push a finger or other pointed object quickly into someone or something: - mencocok - merodok - menebuk -mnegodek-menguit - mencuit[makanan-orang] - menyelongkar- terjulur[barang]

.....You'll poke someone in the eye with that umbrella if you're not careful!
......Two kids were poking a stick into the drain.

poke
noun [C]when you poke someone or something:

......She gave me a poke in the stomach. [mencuit2-cucuk2]


poke (APPEAR)
verb [I or T; usually + adverb or preposition] to (cause something to) appear or stretch out from behind or through something else:

.....Cathy poked her head round the door to say hello. menjulur-menjengokan
.......The first green shoots[pucuk] are poking up/through the soil. [mula terjulur]


Lego
a toy for children consisting of small plastic pieces which can be joined
together to make models of different objects


prejudice
irrational dislike, often based on inaccurate stereotypes

prejudice
noun [C or U]an unfair and unreasonable opinion or feeling, especially when formed without enough thought or knowledge: - anggapan buruk terhadap seseorang - sesuatu yang sebelum diketahui sebenarnya - prasangka-


......Laws against racial prejudice must be strictly enforced.
.......[+ that] The campaign aims to dispel the prejudice that AIDS is confined to the homosexual community.
.........He claims that prejudice against homosexuals would cease overnight if all the gay stars in the country were honest about their sexuality

....His comments may have prejudiced the voters against her. -prasangka buruk terhadap
......The fact that you were late all this week may prejudice your chances of getting a promotion. [jejas]

Controversy over Czech EU art

David Cerny is the enfant terrible of the Czech art world, and so when the government commissioned him to create an installation, several eyebrows were raised.

They were not raised in vain. The artwork, called. The artwork, called Entropa, shows the EU's 27 members as snap-out plastic parts of the sort used in modelling kits. Each represents a country according to the crudest national stereotypes.

Bulgaria is shown as a Turkish toilet, Romania as Dracula's castle, and the Netherlands is underwater, with just a couple of minarets poking through the waves. But even more controversially, Denmark is made up of Lego building blocks which, from a distance, form an image of the Prophet Mohammed. And Germany is a network of moving autobahns - lit up, they resemble a crooked swastika.


Czech officials originally praised the rough sketches for the piece, saying making fun of prejudice was the most effective way of destroying it. But it's not clear if they were aware just how provocative the finished result would be.