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Words and phrases that only newspaper headlines use

Started by Stoneage Dinosaurs, May 16, 2022, 01:12:25 PM

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Stoneage Dinosaurs

"Romp" for sex
"Foul mouthed"
"X rated"

As seen in tabloids and local news sites and the like. I know this is aimed at the lowest common denominator but even the thickest people I know don't talk like this, so who exactly is it for?

machotrouts


touchingcloth

Sports writers seem to have a domain-specific thesaurus they all use. I've seen "between the sticks" used a lot in rugby and "tonne" in cricket - I don't follow the sports myself, but I can't imagine they're in wide use outside of punditry. It's an absolutely ludicrous display.

I used to read The Register a lot when I worked a more techy job, and they would always refer to computers as "iron", the fucking Tolkien dweebnerds.

shoulders


shoulders

Quote from: touchingcloth on May 16, 2022, 01:22:12 PMSports writers seem to have a domain-specific thesaurus they all use. I've seen "between the sticks" used a lot in rugby and "tonne" in cricket - I don't follow the sports myself, but I can't imagine they're in wide use outside of punditry. It's an absolutely ludicrous display.

Ton, not Tonne. Ton = 100


shoulders


Stoneage Dinosaurs

I also don't think any of this vocabulary has meaningfully changed in about 20 years, probably even longer


touchingcloth

I've deduced that it's 100, which is probably why I assumed the term was the metric one. A ton should be 1,047 runs, or a furlong's worth.

FredNurke

'stunned' = beaten by a lower-ranked player / team.

touchingcloth



Solid Jim

'Horror' as an adjective seems to be a favourite of certain sub-editors.

3 DEAD IN HORROR CRASH

touchingcloth


touchingcloth

Quote from: Solid Jim on May 16, 2022, 01:33:11 PM'Horror' as an adjective seems to be a favourite of certain sub-editors.

3 DEAD IN HORROR CRASH

Cf. "chaos", as in "snowtravelchaos".

Butchers Blind


pcsjwgm

I've been inexplicably annoyed by news shows referring to temperature (in a weather context) as "the mercury".

Endicott

This is a common sight on any village green throughout the land when the local cricket team gets going.


touchingcloth

My partner used to work in kids' telly, and one of the execs wouldn't let the writers use the phrase "switch over" (as in "don't switch over, we've got Astro Farm still to come" or "switch over to Bravo to follow the gang's adventures in Topless Darts") on the assumption that the roots of the phrase in physical electronic switches would confuse the youngsters of the day.

Fr.Bigley


touchingcloth


shoulders

Presumably it's like this because there are perma-sweating divorced thrombo fuckwit bosses in braces who insist all new staff conform to an editorial vernacular that would sound out of date and unnecessarily twee to a racist pensioner from Canvey Island who has to sift through a dune of sexist beach holiday postcards to reach the potty.

It's dangerous to presume though. Dangerous - a little sexy, even.

The Ombudsman


PaulTMA

"Tot" for toddler.  Looks good and big in print, like 999 or XTC.  Don't think anyone actually says it out loud outside of Tots' TV (presumably not still running)


king_tubby

Quote from: PaulTMA on May 16, 2022, 02:04:32 PM"Tot" for toddler.  Looks good and big in print, like 999 or XTC.  Don't think anyone actually says it out loud outside of Tots' TV (presumably not still running)

Has to be paired with 'tragic'.

touchingcloth


Paul Calf

Quote from: Stoneage Dinosaurs on May 16, 2022, 01:12:25 PM"Romp" for sex
"Foul mouthed"
"X rated"

As seen in tabloids and local news sites and the like. I know this is aimed at the lowest common denominator but even the thickest people I know don't talk like this so who exactly is it for?



Blue Jam


Sebastian Cobb

'BUNGLING' when describing incompetence, usually civil servants.