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Reader question: Please explain this sentence: British Sunday newspapers have a tendency for crying wolf to help copy sales. My comments: Sunday newspapers are Sunday editions. Many British newspapers have Sunday editions, i.e. special enlarged versions of the same paper sold on Sunday, when more people are staying at home for the weekend and are therefore more likely to read the paper for leisure or, right, information. Sunday newspapers tend to be even more sensational reading than their weekday siblings – in order to grab readers attention – to increase sales. And they are often caught crying wolf when there is none. Crying wolf? The Sunday newspapers are inspired by the boy in Aesop’s Fables, of course. The boy, you know, was asked to shepherd a flock of sheep and was told to cry “Wolf!” when he saw wolves coming to pounce on the sheep. And so the boy cried “Wolf!” out loud and often – when there weren’t any wolves to be seen. Perhaps he was just happy to see the way villagers rush in, brandishing sticks and knives, to help. He was lonely and this must have been good fun for him. The long and short of it is, villagers soon grew tired of his antics and no-one responded to his cries when wolves did arrive. I heard more than one adult tell me this story, or a very similar one at any rate, while growing up in Henan Province. I don’t think all or any of them actually read Aesop because the way they told the tale, it felt like it’s a Chinese legend story through and through. | 
