Headlinese

Headlinese is nonconversational language used in newspaper headlines.

Because of space constraints, a copy editing requirement is the ability to write headlines in a compressed telegraphic style. Headlines often omit forms of the verb "to be" and other grammatical articles, or use verbs\' infinitives for the future tense, as in "Dow Jones board to vote on News Corp offer".Dow Jones board to vote on News Corp offer. The Times (2007-07-17). Retrieved on 2007-07-17. Virtually no finite verbs are used except in the simple present tense.

Headlines occasionally resort to a specialised vocabulary. The following are commonly encountered, and most are also now found in ordinary usage. Some of these words (e.g. ban, toll) were decidedly archaic before they were discovered by the headline-writers. For example:

• assail (verb: to attack, usually verbally)U.S. assails Chavez\'s \'politics of fear\'. Miami Herald (2007-07-12). Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
• axe (verb: to reduce drastically, or to abolish) Coursework axed to beat GCSE cheats. The Guardian (2007-06-14). Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
• ban (verb: to prohibit; noun: a proscription) Shaoib and Asif hit with drug bans. The Guardian (2006-11-01). Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
• cut (verb: to reduce; noun, often "cuts": a reduction) Price cuts spark fears of mass withdrawals. Financial Times (2007-07-17). Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
• hit (verb: to affect adversely)
• mull (verb: to ponder)U.S. to mull changes to oversight of biotech crops. Reuters (2007-07-13). Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
• nab (verb: to capture or arrest)
• poll (verb: to vote, or to win a number of votes, or to survey opinions; noun: an election, or an opinion survey) Blair\'s poll guru admits \'mistakes\'. BBC News (2002-11-22). Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
• probe (verb: investigate, noun: investigation)
• quiz (verb: to question)Sarah Robertson Cops quiz men over killing The Sunday Sun 24 June 2007
• talks (noun: negotiations, or a discussion, or a meeting) Bush to Bolster Abbas and Seek Peace Talks. The New York Times (2007-07-17). Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
• toll (noun: a number of victims) World Death Toll Of a Flu Pandemic Would Be 62 Million. The Washington Post (2006-12-22). Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
• weigh (verb: to consider carefully and seriously)Sainsbury\'s \'weighs £12bn offer\'. BBC News (2007-07-08). Retrieved on 2007-07-08.Europeans weigh names to succeed Rato. Financial Times (2007-06-29). Retrieved on 2007-07-17.

Conjunctions are also often excluded from headlines. In the United States, for example, the word "and" is often replaced by a comma, as in "Bush, Blair laugh off microphone mishap".Bush, Blair laugh off microphone mishap. CNN (2006-07-21). Retrieved on 2007-07-17.

Headlines feature many contractions and abbreviations: in the USA, for example, Pols (for "politicians"), Dems (for "Democrats"), GOP (for the Republican Party, from the nickname "Grand Old Party"); in the UK, Lib Dems (for the Liberal Democrats), Tories (for the Conservative Party). Some periodicals have their own distinctive headline styles, especially Variety and its entertainment-jargon headlines such as "Sticks nix hick pix".

The vocabulary and grammatical constructs used in headlines have become so culturally ingrained that they are often encountered even where there are no space constraints, for example in internet news agencies\' headlines.

References and examples

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