Why Johnny Depp lost libel suit in UK but won in US

Resource: The Print https://theprint.in/world/judge-jury-and-social-media-trial-why-johnny-depp-lost-libel-suit-in-uk-but-won-in-us/984386/ 

In Depp’s case in the UK, the burden of proof lay with The Sun, but in the US, it was Depp who had to persuade the jury that Heard not only defamed him, but did so with malice. 

In other words, in the UK, plaintiffs have to show that a false and defamatory statement was made, but in the US they also have to prove an added element of actual malice.

But what really turned the tide in Depp’s favour in the US was the jury as opposed to a single judge in the UK. Experts have highlighted how Depp used a strategy called “deny, attack, and reverse victim and offender” or “Darvo” —  a common defence tactic in sexual assault and domestic violence trials. 

The strategy, experts say, is  “very, very effective against juries” although “lawyers and judges tend not to fall for it” because they are trained to look at evidence.

In this case, Depp’s lawyers employed the tactic effectively, turning him into the victim and Heard the abuser.

The same strategy that was employed in social media as well — the hashtag #justiceforjohnnydepp received 19 billion views on TikTok and trended for weeks on Twitter. It resulted in drawing public attention to the trial — polls reportedly showed that Americans showed more interest in the courtroom drama than the ongoing war in Ukraine or the historic ruling on abortion expected any day from the US Supreme Court. 

Although jurors were instructed not to read about the case online, they were not sequestered or isolated, and were allowed to keep their phones.

Fast Talk; Fast Friends; Fast Asleep

From: English Island 

 Ignore his fast talk.

（Ｘ）別管他講話太快。
（Ｏ）別聽他的花言巧語。

Fast talk表面上看來是「講話很快」，其實是指人講話很快、語言浮誇，不太實在。

經常這樣講話的人，我們可以說他是fast talker。而fast talk更常用來當動詞：

He fast-talked his way into a powerful job.  他靠誇誇其談謀了個要職。

They are fast friends. 

（Ｘ）他們很快變成朋友。
（Ｏ）他們是很要好的朋友。 

大家熟悉Fast意思是「快」，但它還有一個意思，是「牢固的、安穩的」。來看一例：

He's fast asleep. 

（Ｘ）他很快睡著。
（Ｏ）他睡得很熟。

Fast asleep 是熟睡，fast不是「很快」，而是「很安穩、很熟」。類似的還有，如果我們說一個規則是hard and fast，意思也是「很明確、很牢固、不能更改」：

We have hard and fast rules for this procedure. 我們對流程規定非常明確。

Fast friend就是取這個意思，「牢固的朋友、可靠的朋友」。再看看例句：

Do you have any fast friend in that company? 你在那家公司有可靠的朋友嗎？

Late, Lately, Recently & Shortly

From: Lingoda Class Report (Jessica), Cambridge Dictionary       

There's a great page here on the Cambridge dictionary site with some        more info on when to use late, when to use lately and when it can be swapped with recently! https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/late-or-lately 

Late: Late as an adverb means ‘not on time’:

Well, I couldn’t find my classroom, so I got to the classroom a bit late and then I had to sing a song in front of the other students!

Lately: Lately is used for REPEATED events. Something that is recurring often. We use lately for states or for repeated events, mostly with the present perfect:

She says she’s been feeling tired lately. I think she’s working too much. 

 

You asked me if you could interchange 'recently' and 'shortly,' and I said no. Here is why:

Recently (adverb) meaning - at a recent time; not long ago.

- Recently means something just happened. "I recently started studying astro-physics!"

Since the sentence suggests that Jane and Amber have arrived late to the party this one time, we use recently.   

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Shortly (adverb) meaning - in a short time; soon. 

- Shortly means something is about to happen. "I will start studying astro-physics shortly."