Bad Headlines, Good Headlines

The accuracy of headlines has long been one of my hobby horses, so this first post after a bunch of rather plain lessons is a comic in which a character accurately (if humorously) suggests a more accurate headline. Good for him. Last panel.

“Beach ape” is this strip’s name for humans. If I may be a pedant, I’d suggest “reef” instead of “something.”

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First, the list:

I’d add “peeps” (for “people”) to the list. Seems to me that a couple more such are floating around. Can you add to the list? Put them in the comments.

Hey, at least this post isn’t a repeat lesson for before.

I guess I don’t really need to comment. It’s all true.

Similes compare things, metaphors say something is something else.

Second panel.

I’ll let you enjoy the other corrections on your own.

Remember: begging the question is using wat you want to prove as evidence of its truth. The incorrect guy, on the left, isn’t using an assertion as proof, so the guy on the right is correct.

Other posts mention this fallacy; use the search box to find them.

People often say “If there’s one thing I like/hate/think about/etc,” then they mention more than one thing! Don’t do that!

Here’s a guy who committed this error in spades:

Think before yo speak! You can say “I like two things best,” or “A couple things cross my mind all the time…”