Punctuation matters

Queens stepmom convicted of broom handle beating 12-year-old kid

Eh? George VI remarried?

Ah, no, stepmom in Queens….

12 thoughts on “Punctuation matters”

  1. Punctuation matter’s, shurely.

    The quotation reminds me of a literalism (also an American newspaper headline) fondly cited by V. Nabokov:

    “Torso killer beats chair”

  2. Interesting illustration of how the UK’s on the periphery of the English speaking world. Shouldn’t think there was a single, American, let alone NuYawker, would have construed that headline as referring to anything else but the borough. Why would they> Any royals story would have commenced Queen of Britain’s, to differentiate Brenda from all the innumerable other queens knocking about.

  3. Also in today’s Telegraph: “Disgruntled parent pays £60 school attendance fine for taking child on holiday in pennies”

    The reader is led to assume that pennies are an item of clothing, or perhaps a downmarket holiday resort.

  4. bis, but Brenda’s queen to quite a few Americans, though they call themselves Canadian. As well as Bahamians, Bermudians, Belizeans, Falkland Islanders, and lots of other rum places in the Caribbean.

  5. Americans never say “Queen of Britain”.

    They have a committee for inspecting names for geographical features and the like, which is very reluctant to allow an apostrophe in a name.

    So “Hillary’s Bluff” would be banned, for example.

  6. bloke in spain

    Interesting illustration of how the UK’s on the periphery of the English speaking world.

    It would also have had an apostrophe.

  7. The Queen’s stepmother would be the Queen’s stepmum, not her stepmom. Seeing the ‘o’ spelling, I wouldn’t even have thought of Brenda.

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