In a forum on Testy Copy Editors in 2009, editor Mike O’Connell posted a headline from the newspaper Japan Today: “Violinist Linked to JAL Crash Blossoms.” He asked, “what do you call these kinds of strangely phrased hedlines? is there a word for them?” The answer suggested itself — a crash blossom is headline that’s painfully ambiguous, usually due to unwise ellipsis, double meaning, or tortured syntax. Linguist Ben Zimmer gave some examples in the New York Times the following year: Giant Waves Down Queen Mary’s Funnel MacArthur Flies Back to Front Eighth Army Push Bottles Up Germans McDonald’s Fries … Continue reading “American Ships Head to Gulf”