Dial N for ...
Japan N-crisis draft under attack
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- China has described Japanese efforts to pass a U.N. resolution that would impose sanctions on North Korea for conducting missile tests an "overreaction," recommending the draft be revised.
Uh, guys? Last time I looked, "missile" begins with "m," not "n."
Couple of factors could be in play here. The hed writer could have been trying for "m-crisis" and slipped. That wouldn't have been a very good stretch, even it it had worked. Or the hed writer could have mistaken the missile crisis for a nuclear crisis, which is making things a few dozen kilotons scarier than they need to be. Either way -- and this does seem to be starting to sound like a broken record -- let's try to be extra cautious about whom we impute the nukeler firecracker to. Especially when the Axis of Evil is involved.
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- China has described Japanese efforts to pass a U.N. resolution that would impose sanctions on North Korea for conducting missile tests an "overreaction," recommending the draft be revised.
Uh, guys? Last time I looked, "missile" begins with "m," not "n."
Couple of factors could be in play here. The hed writer could have been trying for "m-crisis" and slipped. That wouldn't have been a very good stretch, even it it had worked. Or the hed writer could have mistaken the missile crisis for a nuclear crisis, which is making things a few dozen kilotons scarier than they need to be. Either way -- and this does seem to be starting to sound like a broken record -- let's try to be extra cautious about whom we impute the nukeler firecracker to. Especially when the Axis of Evil is involved.
posted by fev at 3:59 PM
4 Comments:
I assumed N was for North Korea.
Hmm. The "N-" clip for "nuclear" is pretty common, but I'm having a hard time coming up with any examples of a geographic correlate. Hed language has done some strange things to countries and places over the years, but somehow B-crisis or I-crisis or G-crisis doesn't ring a bell.
Got an example?
One of the papers in my area regularly uses "N-plant" in headlines on stories about nuclear power. It looks awful and probably doesn't mean much to the typical reader.
Yeah, I must admit "N-plant" is going to be one of those hed sins I have to explain more than once at the Pearly Gates. Likewise, probably, "N-test." And I might have to own up to an "A-arms" or something if the questioner is really picky.
My evil past aside, the bigger worry around here -- and somewhat to my relief, out in the paying world too -- is the ease with which 'nuclear program' turns into 'nuclear weapons,' the sort of distinction you'd like your World News Leaders to have a slightly better grasp on.
By the way, you Chapel Hill Newspaper refugees and other expats out there, pls make Andy welcome. He preaches the gospel over at Carolina these days.
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