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Re: Confusing headlines

Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2020 2:05 am
by Qwynegold
I don't understand what any of this means. :shock:

Re: Confusing headlines

Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2020 4:58 am
by zompist
Are you not getting the pic to load or something? If so, it shows an elevator panel with a sign reading "DO NOT CLICK BUTTONS WITH GENITALIA / Cameras are watching. / University of Alabama".

Re: Confusing headlines

Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2020 5:29 am
by Yalensky
I was staring at it for a few minutes trying to decide what "genitalia" could possibly be a typo for before I decided that's literally what they must have meant. Turns out that that's way more intriguing than the syntactic ambiguity!

Re: Confusing headlines

Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2020 11:43 am
by Travis B.
My question was why would you press buttons with your genitalia in the first place?

Re: Confusing headlines

Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2020 6:03 pm
by Linguoboy
Travis B. wrote: Sat Oct 03, 2020 11:43 amMy question was why would you press buttons with your genitalia in the first place?
Because you can?

Re: Confusing headlines

Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2020 6:24 pm
by Yalensky
Travis B. wrote: Sat Oct 03, 2020 11:43 am My question was why would you press buttons with your genitalia in the first place?
Do you really want to touch dirty elevator buttons with your hands during a pandemic?

Re: Confusing headlines

Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2020 6:52 pm
by Arkasas
Travis B. wrote: Sat Oct 03, 2020 11:43 am My question was why would you press buttons with your genitalia in the first place?
Look, collegiate men have never been known for their deep intellectual prowess, especially not while under the influence of alcohol.

Re: Confusing headlines

Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2020 3:07 pm
by Raphael
This one is not actually confusing; it is, in fact, very bland - what's confusing about it is mainly what led the editors to the decision to run it. From a local paper where I live:

Farmers Harvest Corn

Seriously, when I saw that, I thought, "what's next, a headline about a dog biting a man? Or about the Sun rising in the East in the morning?"

Re: Confusing headlines

Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2020 6:54 pm
by bradrn
From an advertisement: Their hunt the roast vegetable sauce

Re: Confusing headlines

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2020 10:54 am
by Travis B.
bradrn wrote: Sun Oct 04, 2020 6:54 pm From an advertisement: Their hunt the roast vegetable sauce
That's as confusing as Farmers Harvest Corn is banal.

Re: Confusing headlines

Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2020 5:55 am
by Raphael
From the BBC:

France passes new law to protect child influencers

What, a special law to protect people who influence children? Why? Oh, wait, it's a law to protect "influencers" who are underage themselves.

Re: Confusing headlines

Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2020 8:02 am
by Ryusenshi
From the New York Times via Twitter:
Most Patients' Covid-19 Care Bears Little Resemblance to Trump's

Wait, what do the Care Bears have to do with the pandemic??

Re: Confusing headlines

Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2020 11:35 am
by Qwynegold
zompist wrote: Sat Oct 03, 2020 4:58 am Are you not getting the pic to load or something? If so, it shows an elevator panel with a sign reading "DO NOT CLICK BUTTONS WITH GENITALIA / Cameras are watching. / University of Alabama".
No, I saw the picture, but couldn't understand what it was supposed to mean. And the comments were of no help. But apparently I was just supposed to take that literally all along.

Re: Confusing headlines

Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2020 5:21 pm
by zompist
Qwynegold wrote: Thu Oct 08, 2020 11:35 am
zompist wrote: Sat Oct 03, 2020 4:58 am Are you not getting the pic to load or something? If so, it shows an elevator panel with a sign reading "DO NOT CLICK BUTTONS WITH GENITALIA / Cameras are watching. / University of Alabama".
No, I saw the picture, but couldn't understand what it was supposed to mean. And the comments were of no help. But apparently I was just supposed to take that literally all along.
Norms of all kinds were violated here, so it could be confusing. So: the sign tells us that dudes were using their penises to press the buttons. The garden path interpretation is that the buttons have genitalia.

Re: Confusing headlines

Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2020 2:22 pm
by Qwynegold
zompist wrote: Thu Oct 08, 2020 5:21 pmNorms of all kinds were violated here, so it could be confusing. So: the sign tells us that dudes were using their penises to press the buttons. The garden path interpretation is that the buttons have genitalia.
Oh, okay. And for some reason, at first I was thinking of female genitalia, so that didn't help either. :lol:

Re: Confusing headlines

Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2020 2:24 pm
by Qwynegold
This is actually tragic, but I saw this headline on TV and thought it could have been phrased slightly differently to avoid a weird interpretation:
BBC World News wrote:At least 7 people killed in Ganja attack tonight

Re: Confusing headlines

Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2020 9:20 pm
by Torco
Qwynegold wrote: Sun Oct 11, 2020 2:22 pm
zompist wrote: Thu Oct 08, 2020 5:21 pmNorms of all kinds were violated here, so it could be confusing. So: the sign tells us that dudes were using their penises to press the buttons. The garden path interpretation is that the buttons have genitalia.
Oh, okay. And for some reason, at first I was thinking of female genitalia, so that didn't help either. :lol:
Thanks I now have an image of ladies trying to hump elevator buttons.

Re: Confusing headlines

Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2020 12:06 pm
by Qwynegold
You're welcome! :lol:

Re: Confusing headlines

Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2020 11:21 pm
by bradrn
Premier’s lover fixed pub meeting ministers refused

Re: Confusing headlines

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2020 6:18 am
by Linguoboy
Lobster catch dropped in N.S. bay in years leading up to launch of Mi’kmaq fishery (Global News)