Learning English from Cartoons: The Buck Stops Here.

BACKGROUND

David Cameron told MPs three months ago: "I'm responsible for the decisions I take, the people I employ, the government I run. The buck stops right here, and I take full responsibility for every single thing I do." (source: The Guardian)

THE CARTOON

This cartoon by Schrank from The Independent shows UK Prime Minister David Cameron cowering under his desk. On the desk we can see a selection of newspapers with headlines about people involved in scandals and affairs which have been embarassing the government in recent times (Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson, Jeremy Hunt), and a sign with the words "The Buck Stops Here".

EXPLANATION

If you pass the buck, you refuse to accept responsibility for something and say that someone else is responsible. 


• He's very good at passing the buck. The expression is said to have originated with the game of poker, in which a marker or counter (frequently in frontier days, a knife with a buckhorn handle), was used to indicate the person whose turn it was to deal. If the player did not wish to deal he could pass the responsibility by passing the "buck," as the counter came to be called, to the next player.

"The buck stops here" is a phrase that was popularized by U.S. President Harry S. Truman, who kept a sign with that phrase on his desk in the Oval Office. The phrase refers to the fact that the President has to make the decisions and accept the ultimate responsibility for those decisions. Truman received the sign as a gift from a prison warden, who was also an avid poker player. (source: Wikipedia)

COMMENTARY

By showing Cameron hiding under his desk, the cartoonist is suggesting that he is unwilling to face up to facts and accept responsibility for the various mistakes he and his government has made.  So the expression 'the buck stops here' is being used ironically in this case.

From: http://www.englishblog.com/