Questions tagged [headline-english]
Questions about the compressed style of English commonly employed in newspaper headlines.
71 questions
2
votes
2
answers
114
views
Why is "message receiving processing" so jarring?
I am proofreading a document (basically concerned with network protocols) that has been translated from an Asian language, which has resulted in the term "message receiving processing".
This ...
- 131
1
vote
2
answers
181
views
The function of "to start the year"
Tech shares wobble to start the year FXS
What is the function of "to-infinitive" here?
I would like to know the grammar.
I don't think the to-infinitive means the purpose since we wouldn’t ...
- 506
1
vote
0
answers
47
views
Why and when are linking verbs omitted? [duplicate]
I see that linking verbs are omitted when one wants to quickly convey information (radio communication, newspapers).
Examples: enemy spotted, game over, Lincoln shot, block broken, 3 left.
Are there ...
- 11
0
votes
0
answers
49
views
What's the meaning of noun + to + verb? [duplicate]
I can't understand, what does the following sentence mean and other similar sentences: (for example)
France to ban street scooters in Paris.
What does it mean, if we use "to" after the ...
- 1
3
votes
3
answers
353
views
Why is the structure interrogative-which-word – subject – verb (including question mark) being used so often? Is it grammatical?
I've noticed that more and more headlines of articles and ads (excluding those in more traditional online media) are of the structure interrogative-subject-verb instead of interrogative-verb-subject.
...
- 193
0
votes
1
answer
43
views
Why "orders" NOT ("have ordered"/ "ordered") [duplicate]
I have read this title
Pakistan top court orders immediate release of ex-PM Imran Khan.
Why they have written "orders" in present simple? I mean why not in present perfect or simple past?
- 1
0
votes
1
answer
46
views
Skipping an article for a stronger "punch" in a headline --- incorrect or not?
I would like to skip an article in a headline I wrote. It feels right to skip it, the sentence sounds stronger in my opinion. However, all the spelling checkers tell me it's bad English.
Can the "...
- 217
0
votes
0
answers
79
views
Is “Wally the walrus to get ‘floating boat’ to stop him sinking boats” grammatically correct? How should this be used then? [duplicate]
I can't see a verb-part of the sentence here. Is it even a sentence? Some kind of absolute construction? The picture, of course, speaks for itself and the general meaning is clear, but I am still ...
5
votes
2
answers
267
views
"China balloon" vs "Chinese balloon"?
Is the phrase "China balloon" grammatically correct?
I was under the impression that it must be "Chinese balloon", but I see the former used in mainstream news such as the ...
- 1,134
4
votes
0
answers
527
views
What is the term for this sort of ambiguity? [duplicate]
"Scientists discover emperor penguin colony in Antarctica using satellite images"
This is the title of an article in the Guardian newspaper today.
There must be some clever penguins down ...
- 28.9k
0
votes
1
answer
128
views
Pluralizing a first name
In a social media post, a movie streaming site referred to multiple actresses with the same first name of “Jennifer” without repeating the name each time. Instead, they pluralized Jennifer and the ...
- 1
-1
votes
1
answer
52
views
Does this wording (Charge accepted) contain the minimum parts of speech necessary to be considered a sentence?
I know that sentences can be short. "He ran", "I run", etc. are the first examples that come to mind. However, verbal responses to questions like "Yes" are often written ...
- 101
4
votes
1
answer
194
views
How to use adverbial phrases with season/year?
Time adverbial phrases seem very confusing. Google doesn’t show any past questions on this. I’d like to ask how I should write a sentence with a temporal phrase indicating season and year:
[subject] [...
- 649
2
votes
1
answer
275
views
Use of a comma to separate two items in a list
I wanted to ask a question about the use of commas when separating two items in a list.
I was reading an article in Reuters concerning two different banks listed in the headline:
Deutsche bank, ...
- 141
7
votes
2
answers
1k
views
In headlines, how did the comma become a substitute for "and"?
I'm seeing an increasing number of headlines where a comma is used in place of the word 'and'.
Mother enraged after suspect walks free after attacking her, one-year-old baby in a parking lot
The ...
- 206
0
votes
3
answers
163
views
Is there a term for sentences that are hopelessly and often humorously ambiguous? (e.g. "Squad helps dog bite victim") Are there algorithms for them?
The humorous 1980 book titled Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim and Other Flubs from teh Nation's Press (AbeBooks, Goodreads)1 recently came to mind after seeing the headline
Shocking video shows Chinese ...
- 887
0
votes
1
answer
67
views
Using definite article in news item headlines [duplicate]
The CNN headline reads:
Queen won’t return to London to appoint new British PM, for first time in her reign
Why the definite article the is omitted in "for first time" and "Queen"...
- 351
4
votes
0
answers
136
views
What is the origin of short form headlines in media/the news?
Every now and then one comes across a shortened form of headlines in media, mostly the news. For example:
Study: Inflation Forcing More Americans To Choose Between Buying Groceries, Aston Martin DBS [...
- 151
3
votes
3
answers
311
views
Using 'all' without a noun or pronoun
As far as I understand, 'all' should always be followed by a noun or pronoun, so the sentence 'I want to buy all' is incorrect. However, in computer games and mobile apps, I often see phrases like '...
- 39
0
votes
1
answer
75
views
How to avoid of of of in the Appendix title
I am writing a book and I am supposed to write a title of an Appendix. The logic would go like this:
Summary of the models of probability of occurrence
But isn't it clumsy, to use so many of's in a ...
- 839
0
votes
0
answers
28
views
Could articles be omitted in descriptions of art?
Compiling brief descriptions of art objects, is it okay to make do mostly without articles? For instance (about an old coin),
Eagle under crown; shield featuring Moscow’s coat-of-arms on eagle’s
...
- 1
0
votes
0
answers
65
views
Need some help with articles in a simple list (please see the actual example below)
This is the list of topics and their tasks. Do I need to put articles in the following cases?
THE meeting:
Discuss achievements
Find solutions
THE brand's problem
Find the strategy
Set tasks
In ...
0
votes
1
answer
199
views
What is the correct term for using a verb as an adjective? [closed]
My local newspaper has a confusing headline today: “Littlehampton rescue after person thrown from town inflatable“.
I am having difficulty working out whether this is (a) grammatically correct (should ...
- 111
2
votes
1
answer
660
views
Infinitives in news titles
I have a question on the usage of infinitives in news titles. While infinitives are seemingly used to indicate that something will be happening in the near future in news headlines (as discussed in ...
- 21
0
votes
3
answers
209
views
Definite article in the headlines containing ‘of’ [closed]
I’d like to know if we should keep an initial 'THE' in the titles of scientific papers, articles or finale papers of students, if they contain 'of'?
For instance:
The concept of truth in the work ...
0
votes
2
answers
109
views
‘Dembele Cannot Have Said Much To The Referee’ - grammatically correct?
The title is from an article in BeSoccer.com:
Dembele cannot have said much to the referee
"I don't know what Dembele may have said to the referee but I don't think it's a long sentence because ...
- 115
6
votes
2
answers
232
views
The “open-ended Irish backstop” (Brexit)
Downing Street let it be known that May’s withdrawal agreement might after all be acceptable, if only the open-ended Irish backstop could be removed. Brussels in return let it be known that Johnson’s ...
- 92.9k
1
vote
0
answers
72
views
by (the) way: incidentally
Microsoft® Encarta® 2009. defines incidentally as
by way: used to introduce additional information such as something that the speaker has just thought of
by chance: by chance or by accident
Is the ...
- 2,690
0
votes
1
answer
3k
views
What does "Will Lift Sanctions" mean? [closed]
A Wall Street Journal headline from May 7, 2019 reads
Pence to Announce U.S. Will Lift Sanctions on Venezuela Gen. Manuel Cristopher Figuera After He Broke Ranks With Maduro
What does will lift ...
- 111
1
vote
0
answers
103
views
ISIS Suicide Blasts Kill More Than 220 Dead In Southern Syria
Going through this news article on NDTV website, I saw the headline 'ISIS Suicide Blasts Kill More Than 220 Dead In Southern Syria'. Is this usage correct? Or should it be 'ISIS Suicide Blasts Kill ...
- 113
0
votes
0
answers
63
views
"Debussy, but EPIC for the new Godzilla trailer"
I have read (by accident, I'm sorry) a short news article that had the following headline:
Debussy, but EPIC for the new Godzilla trailer
The article text for this was as followed:
Godzilla 2: ...
- 213
0
votes
0
answers
72
views
Why can one leave out the article in "Please contact administrator"? [duplicate]
As a native American English speaker, I wrote the following error message for our application: "There was an error. Please contact administrator."
A native German speaking colleague asked me why I ...
- 14k
-1
votes
1
answer
49
views
No Turkish troops for Iraq [closed]
Here is a sentence from a newspaper:
No Turkish troops for Iraq|at Defence talk.
What does it mean that Turkish have no troops to send Iraq?
user273528
6
votes
2
answers
2k
views
What does it mean to "cut aid"?
I read in a newspaper the following heading:
“Trump’s Threat To Cut Aid to Countries” = The US reduces its help…
Then I found in a dictionary: “Cuts aid rebels.” = The reduction is helping the ...
user166746
2
votes
2
answers
351
views
When did we start kicking cans down the road ? And when did we lose the can?
I noticed this headline after talks on Brexit were stalled by whatever they were stalled by.
Stalled talks kick the border issue down the road
Ngram A // Ngram B
I tried Ngramming but, ...
- 24.9k
0
votes
1
answer
81
views
Is the sentence "Neil Young to open up entire online music archive for free", correct? [duplicate]
I saw this headline today, "Neil Young to open up entire online music archive for free".
Is that sentence correct, and if so, could it have multiple meanings?
In this instance it's clear to me what ...
- 3
2
votes
1
answer
684
views
Strange Omission of "to be" in The Onion Headlines
So I've noticed a pattern lately on the TheOnion.com of omitting 'is' from their headlines. I get shortening headlines but I can't say this pattern is familiar to me. It strikes me as obtuse and ...
- 281
1
vote
1
answer
121
views
Missing punctuation and the tense usage
I have written the following sentence as a headline for an invitation email.
ABC Ltd. welcomes you to Exhibition Dubai 2017 held at the Dubai World
Trade Center from June 7 to June 9, 2017.
Am I ...
- 43
0
votes
0
answers
59
views
Two past verb(or past participles) arranged side by side in news headline
De Lima ordered arrested by RTC link
From this answer
I somewhat understand of Headlinese. However, I still don't understand ordered. I mean, I can understand was is omitted in following sentence.
...
- 329
0
votes
1
answer
510
views
Why use active voice in "Five killed as aircraft hits shopping centre"? [duplicate]
I think the five people were killed in the aircraft from this news. The headline is:
Melbourne plane crash: Five killed as aircraft hits shopping centre
Why use active voice rather than passive ...
- 111
1
vote
0
answers
60
views
Why in error messages verb 'be' is not used? [duplicate]
In the computer world error messages are written without verb 'be'. For example,
file not found,
file not exist,
command not found,
no such file or directory
and so on.
So why verb 'be'...
- 41
-2
votes
1
answer
98
views
"Fidel Castro Dead" - Is this Slang or common English Usage? [closed]
English is not my mother tongue, so I'm not sure if the title of an article I've read is legit: "Fidel Castro Dead". Shouldn't it be "Fidel Castro is dead"?
- 1
1
vote
1
answer
265
views
Is there a need to use an article in a headline? [closed]
Which should I use?
Top restaurants within 5 minute walk
Top restaurants within a 5 minute walk
For broader context, this is to be used as a section heading in an app, and so adding an article ...
- 119
3
votes
2
answers
265
views
CV/Résumé - Article Drop [closed]
I think my question is rather a stylistic one, but it really bugs me.
From a grammatical standpoint, "the" should always precede ordinal numbers. However, articles are usually omitted in headlines. ...
user145521
6
votes
3
answers
6k
views
Made in USA vs Made in the USA
As you may know the word "the" never appears on the label of products made in any country except the USA. I've found both "Made in USA" and "Made in the USA" on product labels, but which is the right ...
- 179
1
vote
1
answer
96
views
Agency recommended that she 'not face' charges? [duplicate]
An excerpt from the sub-headline of a recent article in the WSJ:
FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday explained why his agency
recommended that Hillary Clinton not face criminal charges for her
...
- 159
1
vote
1
answer
395
views
Should I put articles in the headlines of a CV? [closed]
For example, here:
My contribution: Front-end development.
(The) Project: Our team realized the most popular news resource for a big city.
16
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Why not an s on "speed" in "Ukraine speed to test new-look Germany defence"
This url links to an Australian article (sourced from Reuters) about a football team. The article has the following title:
Ukraine speed to test new-look Germany defence
I understand that the word ...
- 350
0
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Proper use of the verb 'eclipse'
I need help settling a debate regarding the correct usage of the verb eclipse.
The headline in question is (slightly paraphrased):
Runner Completes 2mi Run; Eclipses 12m Result
Now, let's assume ...
- 109
1
vote
4
answers
609
views
What is wrong with this headline?
"Fascist X" said a lawyer and sent to jail for insulting him.
There has been some discussion about this headline's structure. Since I intended to put the quoted speech in front of the sentence, I ...
- 125