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Reader question: Please explain this headline: Politicians huff and puff – markets call their bluff (Reuters, August 12, 2011). My comments: Good question – we will try to kill two or three birds with one stone by mastering three words and two idioms at one go. The three words are “huff”, “puff” and “bluff”, the two idioms being “huff and puff”, “call their bluff”. First the three “ff” words. To huff is to catch in short and quick breaths. The puff is to let the air out in an equally short and hurried manner. To bluff on the other hand is to brag, exaggerate one’s good qualities. Now, when do people huff and puff? Yes, when they’re exerting themselves and are getting tired and exhausted. Hence to huff and puff suggests great physical and mental effort. To call someone’s bluff, on the other hand, is to point flat out that they’re bragging, i.e. telling better stories about themselves in order to make them look better. Hence, to call someone’s bluff suggests that they’ve been lying, deceiving, not telling the truth – in other words, they’re not as good, competent or effective as they say they are. In the top example, politicians, whenever they are described as huffing and puffing as a matter of fact, are working hard at talking empty talks, promising many measures they say they are taking or are about to take in order to improve the economy. | 
