[begin rant] News headings (either on actual articles or above short news briefs) reduced to short, two- or three-word "puns" rather than actual reflections of the content---the emphasis on being "clever" (I put that in quotes because, it's rarely clever) rather than actually conveying information.
Some examples? Okay, here you go. Picked randomly from the three magazines that happened to be lying next to me on the desk here.
"Evolving Times: The history of New York City's Times Square shows society's changing views about journalism, according to research by communications professor Dale L. Cressman published in Journalism History." [Get it? Evolving Times? Like, Times Square? But also time like actual time in years? Clever!!]
"Star Student: Tabitha C. Bush, a doctoral astronomy student, won the Chanbliss Astronomy Achievement Student Award . . . " etc etc. [Star student! You know, she's a "star" because she's smart, but she also actually studies stars! Ha!]
"Scenic Drive: a comfortable outdoor garden room grows in---of all places---a driveway." [Scenic drive, hey, that's what it's called when you drive somewhere scenic, but this is a driveway that is scenic, wow.]
"Global Appeal: To create a planted sphere of hanging flowers, use cardboard to hold soil in place while you invert one basket on top of another. Secure the two halves with plastic ties . . . " etc. [Usually "global appeal" means "worldwide," but here it refers to an actual globe!! Wordplay!!]
"Counter Proposal: A new countertop, backsplash, and sink crown the existing vanity, now updated with paint and embellishments." [This isn't actually referring to any kind of proposal, since it's about re-doing a countertop, but surely the fact that we have the word counter in common (though the meanings are totally different!) is reason enough to use this phrase in our heading!]
"Soft Touches: 'I've long been a fan of Sferra's luxurious linens. The brand was the perfect fit for my first line." [This phrase is usually used figuratively, as in, 'That lady is a real soft touch.' But here, we cleverly use it to mean, something actually soft, that you actually touch!]
"Just Add Water: Adorable swimsuits to get your kids sea-, pool-, and sprinkler-ready." [It's like a box brownie mix! But here we're using it for kids! Like, a recipe for wet kids!]
Okay, you're probably tired of this by now, and that's the point: I am too!! I'm trying to think of the possible explanations for this behavior:
- The writers actually think they are being clever, and that people will be impressed.
- The writers don't think it's clever, but they think it's what the people want/expect. "Punchy prose! None of this lifeless, dry, "informational" writing for us!"
- The writers are frustrated English majors who take some kind of odd delight in pulling up all the cliched phrases from their brains and matching them with prose that relates on the surface only. Sort of a random word-association exercise.
- The writers do not notice that they are doing this. They have become immune to their own bad writing by reading too much of it.
Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy true wordplay as much as the next person (I know I've sent you here before, for example, and I love it), but in my opinion, doing it poorly (or in the wrong venue) is worse than not doing it at all. I hate reading a cutesy, poorly-thought-out headline on something that's supposed to be "news." Or honestly, on anything.
[/end rant]
Well maybe it happens innocently. Like when I was on the journalism staff in high school (yeah, I totally wrote for the Provonian and I rocked it.) See, they'd assign me to write some article on some topic I didn't care for and then we'd be sitting there all day trying to get our pages laid out before the deadline and oh no! I forgot to come up with my headline for my dumb article so the only thing I can think of is some stupid pun that doesn't make sense, but it's all I could think of.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it happens like that?
seems like it's happening a lot--that kind of thing, not just headlines, but everything that's written in a magazine has to be all snappy and peppy and short. Even when I read things that people supposedly sent into whatever magazine, I can tell because of the vocab and how concise and snappy their little paragraph is that it's been doctored.
ReplyDeleteToo clever is just a little annoying, don't you think? And I don't mean clever as in actually clever.
Oh, shoot. I actually enjoyed those headlines. And the proposal thing? When you work with a contractor, and you ask for a bid, he gives you a proposal, which would include, in a refinish, the type of counter top, etc. with the price. So that works, actually.
ReplyDeleteShort, clever statements are called aphorisms. They can also be very short sum-ups to philosophy or observations on the human condition. These are not that - but still, I think they're fun.
Soft touches, can mean soft touches to a room, as in finishing touches. Maybe that's what this writer actually meant, and thinking in that context, never really realized she'd pulled the other phrase in.
I only wish I were that clever.
good thing you wrote the part you did in green or I may not have even got it. Wow, I've got to do something about this brain of mine! It doesn't work very well right now.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you can help me come up with a name for my etsy shop I might do, if I can come up with a truly clever name. Maybe an aphorism?
Megan, you are inclined to be charitable here, and it's good. My only disagreement is that it happens so often, and so consistently, that I think it MUST be deliberate (and not just last-minute desperation). But then, it seems people (like you, K) don't mind it. Or they may even like it. So, I suppose it's good to give the people what they want. But in spite of not being above a titular pun or two myself, I remain a bit annoyed by the practice in general. (And glad you agree, Ginna) :)
ReplyDelete