Why I Distrust Headlines

—They’re not trustworthy! I mentioned this in the past, but today I’ll let someone else do the talking:

There is a widespread belief that Florida will be the first state to go underwater due to rising sea level. Even the fact-checked New York Times described Florida as “going beneath the waves.” However that is not at all correct. Vulnerability to rising sea level is hyper-local and cannot be generalized. As the four color-coded elevation zones on this map show.

https://johnenglander.net/florida-is-not-going-underwater-anytime-soon/

The New York Times, of all places, distorting the facts! All I gotta say is don’t trust headlines.

Here’s the map, in case you’re interested:

PS—I just ran into another example; some headlines on the same topic.

• A Black Hole Collided With Something That Shouldn’t Exist
• LIGO-Virgo Finds A Mystery Object In A Mass Gap
• Black hole eats mystery object in latest gravitational wave detection
• The heaviest known neutron star — or the lightest known black hole

Can you tell which one is sensationalized? Which one do you think is the best?

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Look at this sentence:

It’s one of just a few similar objects that scientists have found in our region of space, and, at 9.4 times the mass of our sun, is not a supermassive black hole. 

https://www.livescience.com/black-hole-spin-calculated.html

Now take out the “just.”

It’s one of a few similar objects that scientists have found in our region of space, and, at 9.4 times the mass of our sun, is not a supermassive black hole.

Tighter, more direct, isn’t it? Didn’t lose any actual content, did you?

I think the only time you should use the adverb “just” is when you are saying how recently in the past something happened. “we did it just now.” Otherwise, leave it out.

I should have a picture. They used a generic artist’s conception of a black hole from Shutterstock. Myself, I’d have preferred a picture that was somehow connected to the article.

First the comic:

Third panel. I think the implication of switching to Courier is that it’s an expression of poverty or desperation. Courier came from typewriters, which assign the same amount of space to each letter, a simpler and less sophisticated way of making letters. This type of font is called monospaced. Arial was developed by Apple. It has a reputation for being easy to read, especially on computer screens, which typically (especially in the early years) have lower resolution than paper. Arial is a proportional font. Letters that are wider (such as “m”) get more space on the line than narrower letters (such as “i”)

So what’s your favorite font?

The difference between serif and sans serif fonts is a topic for another post.

It’s inaccurate, it’s misleading, and it’s popular. It’s the phrase social distancing. Who’s the dyslexic bureaucrat who thought it up? During the pandemic, we’re supposed to exercise a physical distance! Social distance means you don’t communicate, signal, relate to someone. Every single political cartoon I’ve seen implies social relations when it mentions pandemic-related (ahem) physical distancing, whether it approves or disapproves of the practice. Every line I’ve been in, every grocery store, every visit to any place where other people are present, we interact socially even when we stay six feet apart.

I’m not the only person with this opinion. To quote The Washington Post:

Is ‘social distancing’ the wrong term? Expert prefers ‘physical distancing,’ and the WHO agrees.

Read the whole article. In fact, google “physical distancing vs social distancing” to see a whole lot of articles on the subject.

I just read an FBI document about pandemic personnel management. It uses “physical distancing” three times, and “social distancing” not at all. At least someone in DC knows good English!

Here’s a picture from the National Park Service. They have the good sense not to use an adjective at all:

I understand that Florida suggests that six feet is the length of an alligator.

Say “do six feet,” “physical distance,” even just plain “distance.” But don’t say “social distancing.” Ick.

PS—”Correct” usage does appear now and then, such as here: https://interestingengineering.com/new-physical-distancing-seat-concept-proposes-a-protective-way-to-fly

and here:

From mask wearing to physical distancing, individuals wield a lot of power in how the coronavirus outbreak plays out. Behavioral experts reveal what might be prompting people to act — or not. https://www.knowablemagazine.org/article/mind/2020/how-we-make-decisions-during-pandemic

and here:

Benefits of physical distancing: A study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases offers additional evidence that physical distancing can slow the spread of COVID-19. (The New England Journal of Medicine referencing The Lancet. Both are medical journals. https://www.jwatch.org/fw116791/2020/07/01/covid-19-physical-distancings-benefits-antibody-test

Ha! I even found a comic that uses the correct term. Third panel:

The word “strengths” is well known (well, in linguistic circles) for the fact that if you say the whole word, you pronounce four consonants in a row, even though people frequently leave out the “th.” Pronounce strengths fully: s-tr-eng-k-th-s. Or the lazy way, s-tr-eng-k-s.

Another word that follows this pattern occurred to me: twelfths. Often we say “tw-el-f-s” but we can also say “tw-el-f-th-s.” How do you pronounce it?

So. Can you think of any other words like these? Add them to the comments.