I sometimes wonder if sub-editors responsible for writing headlines have much clue about subtleties of meaning. A heading in the Soorts pages of the Bangkok Post yesterday had me wondering if tennis player Rafael Nadal might be gay, contrary to everything I have heard about him -

 

"TSONGA TOPS NADAL"

 

Apparently there is a name for these confusing headlines:

"The new term "crash blossom" refers to a newspaper headline that can be read in two ways. It derives from the following headline about a air crash in Japan: "Violinist Linked to JAL Crash Blossoms." The article was about a violinist whose successful career took off shortly after his father had died in a JAL crash. But the headline could have had you wondering what in the world is a crash blossom. The problem of course is that blossom could be taken as a noun or as a verb."

http://www.how-to-study.com/teaching-tips/language-arts/dealing-with-confusing-headlines.asp

There have been so many great headlines over the centuries that it's hard to pick out the best. My favourite comes from a modest newspaper serving the people of Aberdeen in the North-East of Scotland, at that time a city of probably around 100,000. After news of the sinking of the Titanic, the banner headline on the front page of the local paper was -

 

NORTH-EAST MAN LOST AT SEA

When I was a young apprentice working in the composing room of a small local paper, I had accidentally put the wrong heading in the classifieds. Instead of "Obituaries" I had put the heading "Lost and Found." My boss did not think it was funny. Next week I did it again, but it was a different type of error. We had a filler ad that read "Be Glad Tomorrow You Bought Real Estate Today." It was meant to be used in the Classified Home Sales section. I had accidentally placed it in the Cemetery Lots section.

 

I had to look for a new job. True story.