Questions tagged [headline-english]
Questions about the compressed style of English commonly employed in newspaper headlines.
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Is ‘to’ needed before ‘become’ in “Become a successful writer” when a book is showing you how (to)? [migrated]
Why isn’t to needed before become here?
Become a successful writer. This book shows you how.
Shouldn’t it be this instead?
To become a successful writer. This book shows you how.
As occurs when ...
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3
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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 ...
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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"...
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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 [...
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Using 'all' without a noun or pronoun [closed]
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 '...
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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 ...
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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
...
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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 ...
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1
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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2
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‘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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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"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: ...
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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 ...
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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
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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
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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, ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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0
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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.
...
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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 ...
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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'...
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"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"?
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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 ...
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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
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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
...
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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.
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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No inversion in questions in headlines and titles
Why do many titles and headlines read:
"Why Europe should become...", NOT "Why should Europe become...";
"How an inventor lost...", NOT "How did an inventor lose...";
"How the photocopier changed...", ...
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What do infinitives mean in news headlines? [duplicate]
I can't wrap my head around some English news titles with infinitives (I have tried to Google this, hopelessly).
Some examples:
Russia's Head Athletics Coach to Step Down After Doping Revelations¹
...
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Is "will open 1st quarter 2015" grammatically correct? [closed]
A lot of signs in the Hong Kong MTR writes:
xxx Station will open 1st quarter of 2015
Is this actually grammatically correct?
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Using “ex” on a genitive
I’ve constructed this headline:
“Opera Mini to become the default browser on Microsoft’s (ex Nokia’s) feature phones”
So, the phones in question used to be produced by Nokia, but Microsoft has ...
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What does "as poll nears" mean? [closed]
I just read The Jakarta Post
I've got this:
"Prabowo changes style in campaign as poll nears"
what is the meaning of 'as poll nears', I've got some guesswork and I am not really sure about it, ...
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Why did The New York Times use the present simple to describe a past event? [duplicate]
Statement is as follows:
Obama makes a surprise visit to Afghanistan.
Is this a simple present tense? If yes then please explain
As per the definition of simple present tense, this statement ...
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Question about headline "Inmate Dies Anyway"
I came across this headline: "Oklahoma Stops Botched Execution. Inmate Dies Anyway." (link)
I was truly disturbed by the use of "anyway". To me, it implies a nonchalant attitude about something that ...
user40248
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News article: "Man sentenced for murdering his 10th wife". What does this mean?
Today I saw this headline for a news article online:
Man sentenced for murdering his 10th wife
I can't tell if a sentence of this nature means that the man has murdered 10 people (all of which ...
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Is it ok to omit a possessive apostrophe before a capitalized appellation (President, country name, VP, PM)?
In a recent Financial Times article (Yemen PM Escapes Assissnation), the apostrophe necessary to show possession was left out. I've seen colleagues do it as well. Isn't it supposed to be "Yemen's PM ...
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Struggling to understand headlines that use ellipsis
I have trouble understanding headlines because they abuse ellipsis. Two examples:
"Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan To Awkwardly Hug, High Five For Next Three Months"
"Scores Dead as Fire Sweeps Through ...
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Is there a specific term for when you combine two unrelated terms in a headline in order to grab attention? [closed]
Is there a specific term for when you combine two unrelated terms in a headline in order to grab attention?
For example:
Bolivian Kick Boxer Meets US Marine
Or:
Kickboxer Meets a Marine (1)
...
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Capital letters in headlines [closed]
I’m not a native English speaker. I’ve noticed that in titles or headlines, many words often start with a capital letter while others are still lowercase. As an example, the title of my question ...
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Is "five-yearly" an acceptable usage of an adverb of manner in British English?
Today's BBC News web page has this headline:
New era of five-yearly doctor checks starts
There's a word that means "five-yearly": quinquennial. It's probably too long for headline writers and too ...
user21497
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What does "To" mean in a newspaper headline?
What does to mean in a newspaper headline, for example:
Airline XY to cut cost of pilots' wages
Is it a shorter form of "Is going to" or "Is planning to"?
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What's the general rule for dropping articles in article & section titles or in figure & table captions?
It is said that "To give added punch, articles are often dropped in the titles of books, movies, music, and other works of art" and "To save space and boost impact, articles are usually ...
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