In a historic election, South Africa's ANC loses majority for the first time
https:// www.npr.org /2024/06/01/nx-s1-4987616/south-africa-election-results In a historic election, South Africa's ANC loses majority for the first time
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party has lost its outright majority for the first time in a devastating blow for the party once led by Nelson Mandela. The ANC has dominated South African politics since winning in the first post-apartheid elections 30 years ago.
The ANC was braced for a disappointing outcome, predicted by polls before Wednesday’s elections, but the final results are even more sobering. It won 40 percent of the vote, falling from 57% in 2019.
I know pundits have been calling this for months now but its still pretty wild that it happened.
Next up, Mexico's first female president
5Now we're all waiting with baited breath for some of these interminable assholes to actually form a coalition government 😕
5baited breath
"bated breath"
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/with_bated_breath
From the verb bate, alteration by aphesis of the verb abate (“to reduce; lessen”). Coined by William Shakespeare in The Merchant of Venice, see quotations.
with bated breath
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With reduced breath.
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(idiomatic) Eagerly; with great anticipation.
We are waiting with bated breath for the release of the new version.
12Bate and goon
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This is the best summary I could come up with:
Tessa Dooms, a director at Rivonia Circle, a think tank in South Africa, said it was a historic result that diminished the ANC’s three decades hold on power.
Thirty years later, many voters at the same polling unit echoed a similar sentiment: frustration with the state of the country, and a desire for change.
He is the first ANC president to lose the party’s majority, has overseen the steepest fall in share of the vote (17%), and turnout has reduced to 58 percent.
But Ramaphosa faces a major challenge to survive the duration of his second term, if he manages to form a government that based on the results, will likely be divisive.
Professor David Everett at Wits School of Governance said the result forcing the ANC to partner with another party was a positive step for the country.
Within the country’s proportional representation system, more parties and independent candidates than ever are forming and providing an alternative — a reality the ANC must now grapple with.
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0Thank you NPR editors for not saying “an historic” for once.
0"an historic" isn't incorrect, neither is "a historic" it's the same issue as "a European" - the a/an choice is based off of pronunciation which is inconsistent because languages diverge (especially english)... the dumb thing is that "an" is written instead of just being written as "a" and optionally pronounced as "an" when followed by a vowel it'd meld into.
Anyways, both choices are valid. The only truly incorrect thing is that en-uk use "speeded" as the past tense of "speed" and that's just fucking awful - we can all agree on that. /s
10checks Google Ngrams
According to Google Ngrams, in American English, "an historic" and "a historic" were about neck-and-neck until 1935, when "a historic" started steadily pulling ahead. Today, "a historic" is far more common.
In British English, "an historic" had a solid lead for a long time, with "a historic" pulling ahead in 1986, and "a historic" now being significantly much more-common as well.
Anyways, both choices are valid. The only truly incorrect thing is that en-uk use “speeded” as the past tense of “speed” and that’s just fucking awful - we can all agree on that. /s
The one that drives me nuts is "pressurized". In American English, you "pressure" someone to do something, but "pressurize" something with gas. In British English, you "pressurize" both, which is ambiguous. I mean, given context, I can normally make it out, but it's just ambiguity that doesn't need to be there, and it always gives me the wrong mental image to start with.
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