Grammar Moses: When good headlines seem bad

"WOW," started the email from a reader named Tom. "I'm impressed. TWO BIG errors in one headline in large capitals at top of page 3 in Section 6 of yesterday's edition."

And I thought this was going to be a good start to my Tuesday morning.

The headline Tom is referring to was in the Daily Herald's Health & Fitness section. It reads: "Incidence of tick- and mosquito-borne illnesses growing rapidly."

"You probably heard about this, but after 24 hours, I had to toss in my notification," he wrote. "While 'incidence' SOUNDS LIKE 'incidents,' it is not the same word. And why is 'tick' linked with a dash to 'and?' I do not recognize 'tick-and' as a singular word.

This should make this week's Sunday column."

Your wish is my command, Tom. But I'm sorry to tell you you're mistaken on both counts.

First, "incidence" means a rate or frequency. In this headline, we're conveying that the rate of illnesses is on the rise.

Plug in "incidents," and it doesn't make sense. "Incidents" wouldn't grow rapidly, but the number of incidents over a period of time could, and that is the definition of "incidence."

Second, here is why there is a hyphen after "tick." The really important detail is that there is a space between "tick" and "and," something Tom didn't detect.

Example: "First- and second-graders have recess each day, while third-, fourth- and fifth-graders don't."

In this case, "grader" is assumed in a list of similar things. It's a shorter way of writing "First-graders and second-graders have recess each day, while third-graders, fourth-graders and fifth-graders don't."

That sentence is an awful lot longer, and all the "graders" get pretty annoying. Not as annoying as most first-graders I know, but that's another story.

In the case of our headline, it's a shorter way of writing "Incidence of tick-borne illnesses and mosquito-borne illnesses growing rapidly."

Besides being an accepted way to shorten things up, it actually fits in a one-line, six-column headline. And making headlines fit - and make sense - is one of our daily challenges.

Tom's point of view on this is probably not uncommon. And I'm sure a little venting made him feel better. He thanked me for my analysis.

While Tom gave me his full name, I wouldn't want you to heckle him mercilessly in a restaurant, so that stays between him and me.

Consider this column a safe place.

Quite a range

The headline Tom brought up reminds me of a common problem.

Example: "CEOs in the industry earn $10 to $50 million a year."

All I can say is that the guy who negotiated a contract to run a company for $10 a year is a special kind of bonehead.

See what I did there?

Yes, written that way, the range is from 10 dollars to 50 million dollars. Clearly, that's not what was intended.

Instead, "CEOs in the industry earn $10 million to $50 million a year."

They earn it?

While I'm at it, don't tell me a CEO "earns" $50 million a year. I bet none of you reading this really believes a CEO "earns" that kind of dough, unless, perhaps, he also owns the company and built it from scratch.

But if you do make $50 million a year, I might be available for adoption. At 56, I've gotten past most of that troubled teen stuff.

"Earns" has an evaluative quality to it. "Makes" is a much more neutral word to use.

Write carefully!

• Jim Baumann is vice president/managing editor of the Daily Herald. Write him at jbaumann@dailyherald.com. Put Grammar Moses in the subject line. You also can friend or follow Jim at facebook.com/baumannjim.