When 'remains to be seen' is something you don't want to see
The headline read: “Remains likely Tennessee missing girl.”
Reader Anola Stowick pointed out the ambiguous nature of that sentence, given that “remains” is both a verb and a noun.
“Headlines like this are confusing, and I have to read them several times to get it right, she said. “Does it ‘remain likely that this is the missing girl' or are the ‘remains' likely to be the girl?”
I see her point. The correct meaning is the latter.
When words evolve — what remains (verb) of a person becomes one's remains (noun) — they can create confusion, especially when they're used in headlines.
Why? Because we tend to drop articles and simple verbs in headlines to make headlines fit on the page.
It's a convention that every American newspaper I've read embraces. Given that, we need to be mindful of creating confusion.
Why do we use “remains” in the first place? Because “corpse” is just too awful to consider.
So, with all of these speed bumps in the way, how do we smooth out that headline?
When in doubt, write around it, I always say.
How about “Body likely missing Tennessee girl's”?
Lowest form of humor?
Judging by your response to my recent column about paraprosdokians, it's clear that you're interested in building your vocabulary related to figures of speech. And jokes.
So when everyone at your dinner table rolls their eyes as you spit out puns faster than Grandma's mashed rutabagas, you can tell them you're merely tantalizing them with paronomasias.
“Paronomasia” (like “paraprosdokian”) is derived from Ancient Greek. It basically means a play on words that sound alike.
Consider REO Speedwagon's seminal 1978 album, “You Can Tune a Piano, But You Can't Tuna Fish.”
That's a solid paronomasia and probably the cleverest thing on that album.
There's also “Atheism is a non-prophet institution.”
Back in the day, my Aunt Joyce and Uncle Rudy would have epic paronomasia duels at the dinner table. Man, do I miss those days.
Poor Boris
“A double entendre is said to be an ambivalent expression, one of whose implications is imprudently suggestive,” wrote reader Robert Rugarian. “With that in mind, what is the first (or second) thing that comes to your mind from the following item in the virus update column in the Daily Herald?”
It read: “Carrie Symonds, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's pregnant fiancee, tweeted that she ‘spent the past week in bed with the main symptoms of coronavirus.'”
To be sure, Johnson is a polarizing figure in Great Britain, and he is now recovering at home from a nasty bout with COVID-19. But in no way should we draw from the sentence that he is defined by or gives definition to the virus.
Get better soon, Boris. Your nation needs you.
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.