Redtop hed dialect shock merge horror
Owing in part to their libel laws, I expect the British would avoid some of the characterizations in text:
Deranged suspect Sean Farrell, 24, called his grandmother after killing his mom — a nurse who helped care for sick children — to confess, court papers show.
“Sean told me he was scared and confused,” stunned granny Letitia Dunn told cops, according to documents.
... but the real interest here is the hed -- particularly the quotes and the lack of the comma. Input from both sides of the ocean is welcome: are we losing the core elements that make our tabs different?
posted by fev at 10:52 PM
2 Comments:
Well, this is the superbly mid-Atlantic Post, so I suppose some Fleet Street import could have forgotten what continent he or she was on when writing it. I reckon it may not be a total merger: more that some bits of hed dialect are just too useful not to import, like UK claim quotes (so space-efficient!) and American conjunctive commas. Bit surprised about the "then", though.
Libel laws, sure, but I suspect (and hope) a British sub-editor would first of all raise the matter of contempt of court. Because it would be a strange judge who didn't think this piece calculated to prejudice the jury.
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