packing sling shot

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi,
“Tonight, the cup competition that isn’t the FA Cup has called the big boys out to play. Well, some of them. There are 12 top-flight teams in the fray, along with some characters from across the Football League, who will definitely have packed their sling shot.”

  • From that rather intricate passage, I concluded that the author was seeing some “big characters” eliminated in this round of the cup competition. Was I right?
    Thank you.
2

Yes.[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, talks: Introducing a keynote speaker of business evening event[YSaerTTEW443543]

3

Probably you realise this, but “sling shot” is a reference to the story of David and Goliath.

4

Have to confess, I’m not an expert at the biblical tales, so it didn’t come to my mind. Rather, I visualized some daring guys armed with slingshots ready to shoot at everything that moves.
Thanks again.

5

David, a small, young boy, with no fighting experience, slew Goliath, a giant of a man, a strong, powerful champion warrior, with a single shot from his sling.
The ‘some character from among the Football League’ are those players who aren’t the ‘big players’ /‘top-flight teams’— they aren’t considered to be the favourites to win but the writer indicates that they may nevertheless get through against the odds.