Ponedeljak, 21. april 2008. - Objavljeno 10:49 GMT

Džon Preskot bolovao od bulimije

On the face of it, John Prescott is about as unlikely a candidate for an eating disorder as it's possible to imagine. He's a pugnacious, blunt-speaking Northerner, a former merchant seaman and amateur boxer who once punched a protester for crushing an egg over him.

In his memoirs, he admits that he felt a right twerp, as he puts it, when he first admitted he had a problem and checked in with a consultant, only to find that the waiting room was full of young women.

Mr Prescott puts his condition down to stress at work. He says the only time he got a break during his eighteen hour working days was to eat, which became his main pleasure. He says he'd eat any old rubbish: burgers, chocolate, crisps, biscuits, trifles until he felt sick, and would then have the weird pleasure of vomiting and feeling relieved.

He says he thought he could hide it, but that it became apparent to his staff and especially his wife Pauline. Psychologists say such behaviour is associated with low self-esteem. He admits that he felt a need to work so hard to prove that he was up to the job. Cartoons portraying him as inordinately fat can't have helped; nor can the jibes of political opponents who would order drinks from him in a disparaging reference to his working class origins and his time as a steward on merchant ships.

He says he'll offer his support to a National Health Service campaign on eating disorders, in the hope of raising public awareness.

pugnacious
eksplozivne naravi, lako se svađa, lako započinje tuču

blunt-speaking
direktan, otvoren, iskren (čak iako to pojedine ljude vređa)

memoirs
memoari, najčešće opis uloge koju je neko imao u određenom periodu u javnom životu ili politici

he felt a right twerp
osećao se veoma blesavo

vomiting
povraćanje

became apparent to
bio je primećen, drugi su primetili

low self-esteem
nedostatak samopouzdanja, bez vere u sebe

up to the job
u stanju da obavlja posao koji mu je poveren

jibes
okrutni komentari, neprijatne opaske

a disparaging reference
komentar čiji je cilj da nekoga povredi, opaska zbog koje se neko oseća loše