A Cornucopia of Crash Blossoms!
The 10 most confusing newspaper headlines?
The New York Times recently ran this, excellent article on ambiguous newspaper headlines. What, it asked, is to be made of these?
Giant Waves Down Queen Mary’s Funnel
MacArthur Flies Back to Front
Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim
Red Tape Holds Up New Bridge
British Left Waffles on Falklands
"For years, there was no good name for these double-take headlines”, wrote Ben Zimmer.
Last August, however, one emerged in the Testy Copy Editors online discussion forum. Mike O’Connell, an American editor based in Sapporo, Japan, spotted the headline “Violinist Linked to JAL Crash Blossoms” and wondered, “What’s a crash blossom?”
… Another participant in the forum, Dan Bloom, suggested that “crash blossoms” could be used as a label for such infelicitous headlines that encourage alternate readings, and news of the neologism quickly spread.
I’ve been collecting my favourite crash blossoms for a while now. Though some are likely to be apocryphal, the list includes:
Grandmother of eight makes hole in one
Drunks Get Nine Months in Violin Case
William Kelly was fed secretary
Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
House passes gas tax onto senate
Farmer bill dies in house
http://timesonline.typepad.com/comment/ ... lines.html