Headlinese
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Headlinese is nonconversational language used in newspaper headlines.
Because of tight space requirements, copy editors usually must write headlines in a compressed telegraphic style, frequently omitting forms of the verb "to be", and generally removing grammatical articles. Another frequent grammatical device is the use of the infinitive as a future, as in "President to take part in next Shuttle mission". Virtually no finite verbs are used except in the simple present tense. Some verbs appear frequently: to mull, to assail, to weigh, although the frequencies of different verbs varies between different English-speaking countries. In Britain, for example, the following are commonly used, and it is interesting to note that most have found their way into ordinary language. It is also interesting to note that some of these words (e.g. ban, toll) were decidedly archaic before they were discovered by the headline-writers. For example:
- ban (prohibit, also noun)
- cut (reduce)
- axe (reduce drastically)
- toll (noun: number of victims)
- poll (to vote, also: to win a certain number of votes; also noun: election, or in the sense of opinion survey)
- hit (adversely affect)
Conjunctions are almost always excluded from headlines as well. In the United States, for example, the word "and" rarely appears in headlines, and is usually replaced by a comma, as in "Bush, Cheney discuss election".
Headlines feature many contractions and abbreviations, such as Pols (for "politicians"), Dems (for "Democrats"), GOP (for the Republican Party, from the nickname "Grand Old Party"), and so forth. Particular periodicals have distinct headline styles, especially Variety and its Sticks Nix Hick Pix.
