Some names present special challenges for headline writers who have to pack a lot of information into only a very few words. Clarity can be especially difficult if the headline writer needs to identify a person whose name is also a verb. The sports section in today’s Commercial Appeal provides us with a classic example of how inconsiderate word placement can transform the meaning of a sentence.
How hard would it have been to simply reverse the names? — “Titans Vrabel scores twice with Pees, LaFleur?”
Way too hard for Gannett. Dammit.
