Definitions
Wiktionary
- n. The jargon used in headlines of newspapers, often with unconventional grammar.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The abbreviated writing style of headline writers.
WordNet 3.0
- n. using the abbreviated style of headline writers
Etymologies
- headline + -ese (Wiktionary)
Examples
“The English tout is hot, not just in headlinese but also in the body of articles.”
Simon & Schuster: The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time
“Though it is terse and punchy, its judgmental appearance in a headline is to be to use the favorite verbs in headlinese assailed and decried.”
Simon & Schuster: The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time
“The Columbia Journalism Review even published two anthologies of ambiguous headlinese in the 1980s, with the classic titles "Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim" and”
“As long as there is such a thing as headlinese, we can count on crash blossoms continuing to blossom.”
“The simplifications of headlinese eliminate all sorts of clues to structure and meaning, forcing the reader to fall back on context, background knowledge, plausibility, and the like.”
“More modest use of headlinese can convey a more conversational and engaged tone and the like.”
“In particular, if the conventions of headlinese allow you to omit certain material, you must.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘headlinese’.
-
Pop Culture
Comic strip character names and words, along with modern slang oddities.
rowrbazzle, pogo, rhinocerwurst, bitchin', cowabunga, joe btfsplk, churchy la femme, howland owl, porky pine, miss mamselle hep..., shmoo, unobtanium and 390 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for headlinese.
oroboros Heard on an interview by Bob Edwards of Roy Blount touting his new book:Alphabet Juice. The change in the English language occasioned by restricted space for headlines. The decline of newpapers will decrease this generator of new English...so Roy thinks. Dec 15, 2008