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Glite Dictionary
the Grauniad

the Grauniad

1 9.9
A humorous nickname for the British newspaper The Guardian, from its old reputation for typing mistakes
  • proper noun
  • Slang
: el Grauniad
  • He buys the Grauniad every Saturday for the cultural supplement.

Examples

  • Did you see that piece in the Grauniad about climate change?

  • I read an article in the Grauniad yesterday.

  • Many journalists joke about getting published in the Grauniad at least once in their careers.

  • Social media users often refer to the Grauniad when discussing UK media bias.

  • He enjoys reading the Grauniad for its humorous take on current events.

  • Many people refer to the Grauniad when they want a satirical perspective on the news.

  • Critics often mention the Grauniad when discussing the quirks of British journalism.

Surface Forms

the Grauniad main

Morphology

the + Grauniad

The nickname 'the Grauniad' is a culture-specific, jocular alteration of the proper name 'The Guardian' and its link to typographical errors is an historical/pun-based reference rather than a compositional meaning. A B1 learner who only knows the constituents 'the' and the unfamiliar form 'Grauniad' would not be able to derive that it denotes The Guardian newspaper, so the expression is opaque.

Etymology

The Grauniad comes from a joke magazine that liked to point out mistakes in the Guardian. The magazine wrote 'Grauniad', a misspelled Guardian, to show the paper often had typos, and that funny idea stuck. So today the Grauniad is a playful way to mean 'The Guardian' and tease it about errors.