Journalism: a brief lesson in abuse of the English language

sear

sear

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The following is an actual FOX Business headline:

UK warns of three-hour winter blackouts if gas demand falls short​

Fox Business2 hours ago

It's likely what the headline author meant was: ... if gas demand exceeds supply.

FOX is not the only source of error in syntax. But journalists are ostensible professionals, reasonably expected to meet a higher standard than casual speech.

There are errors so common as to be familiar, "... all are not" instead of "... not all are".
Double-negatives may be more common.

Got any pet peeves?
Any person you care to quote that's a more reliable source?

The Malaprop can amuse, whether deliberate or not. Or inadvertently invented words? "Misunderestimate" GWB
"... disassemble, that means not tell the truth" U.S. President Bush (younger)

Got any favorites?
 
we only get 2.5% of our gas supply from Russia why would we run short?
That said I dismissed the news item as nonsense and then I heard Liz Truss (current PM) saying it would not happen so now I am worried


Back to topic
headlines are written to have impact they have to be brief and to the point so i tend not to get too hung up on headlines but when the body of the story contains errors I can get a little upset
 
"I dismissed the news item as nonsense and then I heard Liz Truss (current PM) saying it would not happen so now I am worried" m #2
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:)
Germany may be more dependent upon Russia / Gazprom than <3%. Not sure about other mainland Western European allies / trade partners.
Would it be headline news if it was inconsequential? Seems to me one way or another it's going to be a hardship, unless an unlikely arrangement is made for Russia to provide abundant (sufficient) supply at reasonable price.
"headlines are written to have impact they have to be brief" m #2
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One of my Dad's favorite headlines: Hicks Nix Picks Sticks

I heard his anecdote, I didn't have a chance to read the article, a "human interest" space filler published on a slow news day I suspect.

Indeed mm, a good headline should accurately tease the article. I'm not happy that this definition of "tease", the last on the list, and labeled "slang". It may have been "slang" decades ago. I suspect either AHD is out of date, or I am.

In '69 The New York Times ran a titanic headline - man lands on the moon - however worded. I asked Dad why, as this historic event was "telegraphed" long in advance. Dad said it was in part as an historic marker, a once in 500 year event.

teas·er (tēzər)
n.
1.
a. One that teases, as a device for teasing wool.
b. One who engages in teasing; a tease.
2. A puzzling problem.
3. An advertisement that attracts customers by offering something extra or free.
4. Slang An attention-getting vignette or highlight, as one presented before the start of a television show.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
Sergeant majors vs sergeants major.
What is a "rifle"? Is a carbine a rifle? If a Derringer (pocket-sized handgun) has a rifled barrel, is it a rifle?

Some errors in English can lead to misunderstanding or worse. Others can just elicit snickering. Getting the right message across is usually what's important.
 
What is a "rifle"? Is a carbine a rifle? If a Derringer (pocket-sized handgun) has a rifled barrel, is it a rifle?
Click to expand...

I think that in common usage "rifle" means a long gun with a rifled barrel (ie not a shot gun)
At least once dictionary defines "rifle" as - a type of gun with a long barrel (= part shaped like a tube), fired from the shoulder and designed to be accurate at long distances (Cambridge dictionary)

Another (M-W) as - a shoulder weapon with a rifled bore





A poster on another board who has long since put away his lap top used to get very upset by "MPs" (members of parliament) insisting that it should be "MsP"
 
R #4 might have picked a scab here m #5.

"Handgun" may seem fairly clear. Revolver? Either a wheel gun or a Beatles album. How about "pistol"?

pis·tol (pĭstəl)
n.
1. A handgun, especially one that is not a revolver.
[French pistole, from German, from Middle High German pischulle, from Czech píšt'ala, pipe, whistle, firearm, from pištěti, to whistle, of imitative origin.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
OK
Rampage's avatar looks like flintlock handguns to me. They're not revolvers. No problem calling them pistols.
But what about a modern auto-loader, the kind with the magazine in the handle?

I don't mind English. But I'm not wild about lame definitions.
It reminds me of words like "premium" as in: he bought it at "premium price".

pre·mi·um (prēmē-əm)
n.
1. An amount paid or required, often as an installment payment, for an insurance policy.
2.
a. An amount paid to obtain a loan.
b. An interest payment, usually on a regular basis, on a loan.
3. A sum of money or bonus paid in addition to a regular price, salary, or other amount: Many people are willing to pay a premium to live near the ocean.
4.
a. The amount at which something, such as a security or a currency, is valued above its initial or nominal price.
b. The amount at which a securities option is bought or sold.
5.
a. Something offered free or at a reduced price as an inducement to buy something else: offered the backpack as a premium for students opening new bank accounts.
b. A prize or award.
6. An unusual or high value: Employers put a premium on honesty and hard work.
7. Archaic Payment for training in a trade or profession.
adj.
Of superior quality or value: premium gasoline.
Idiom:
at a premium
More valuable than usual, as from scarcity: Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.
[Latin praemium, inducement, reward : prae-, pre- + emere, to take, buy; see em- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.

So if he acquired it at premium that could mean anywhere from free (def. 5a), to "above its initial or nominal price", def. 4a, or 6.

On the MP deal mm, thanks for the chuckle. My recipe for solution? When you don't like options a, or b, take option c.

MP can be regarded as plural, without complicating adornment.
 
And don't forget that punctuation is important

oxford-comma-jane-meme.jpg
 
Throw a dog on the barbie? Thanks for that one Shiftless1. It reminds me
"A woman, without her man, is nothing."
"A woman: without her, man is nothing."

sear might like this, an ode to English Plurals

We'll begin with a box, the plural is boxes.
But the plural of ox is oxen, not oxes.
One of these fowl is a goose, but two are called geese.
Yet the plural of moose has never been meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice.
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always "men",
why shouldn't the plural of pan be "pen"?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
& I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?
One may be that, and three would be those,
yet hat in the plural has never been hose.
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren.
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
The masculine pronouns are he, his and him.
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!
Let's face it - English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
and there's neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England.
We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend.
If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.
In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
We ship by truck or car, but send cargo by ship.
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.
Why is a “touch-up” not the opposite of a “touch-down”?
And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down,
in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which an alarm goes off by going on.
And in closing, if Father is Pop, how come Mother's not Mop?
 
And since the plural of octopus is octopi, and the plural of hippopotamus is hippopotami, why isn't the plural of apple pie, applepus?

On a related note, when poison expires does it become more or less poisonous?
 
"why isn't the plural of apple pie, applepus?" S2 #9
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- wait -
It's not ?!
I feel like such an ignorant noramus! Plural, ignorant norami?

S2,
I got two chuckles on line #2.
First, it's a joke. - har dee har -
Second, poison? With an expiration date?
44a259045d6bc18697b7bc4ddaaf002acfc7ea0.gif


I can't help believing, if intelligent aliens land, and we try to explain Earth / humanity to them, they'll leave in disgust before the raping and pillaging has begun.
 
Any archeologist worth his salt would keep it, if not to flavor his filleted minions, to grind into the wounds of his despised adversaries.
There are many kinds of salt.
Sodium Chloride is a preservative.
Not only can NaCl3 be safe in tolerable quantities. Sodium is an essential nutrient. Problem is, it has a narrow therapeutic index. Either too much salt, or too little can be a problem, potentially fatal in extreme cases.

Table salt can be contaminated, poisoned, by addition of toxins. But no naturally occurring pathogen comes to mind that spontaneously grows on NaCl3, so that the salt "goes bad".

I hope this next isn't too far afield.
I heard a radio interview with a canned food exec.
He admitted what I find absolutely dumbfounding. That food canners in the U.S. disclose expiration dates by FDA requirement. BUT !!
In some cases (pun not intended) the canners knowingly, deliberately print a date EARLIER than a more likely expiration date. Why would they deliberately shoot themselves in the foot this way?
According to the exec., it's a marketing ploy, that consumers wouldn't buy it if it lists an expiration date years in the future. The consumers may falsely assume it's because of excessive preservatives mixed in with the food.

PS
You had me wondering about the accompanying graphic S2. I checked (& double-checked) www.TheSpiceLab.com
but got a redirect to: https://spices.com/

Not sure what to think.
"What I learned in Zen was that all the higher spiritual truths resolve into paradox." Leo Volont
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The bottles don't match sear. In Shiftless2's illustration it's about a 1.36 aspect ratio. Similar bottles by seemingly not the same. At spices.com the aspect ratio is closer to 2.4. And the caps don't match. Could be an upgrade. Try placing an order.
 
You guys are killin' me.
Killin' me!

Where's that Mendeleev rascal when you need him?!
 
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