LL-L "Grammar" 2011.04.28 (01) [EN]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 28 April 2011 - Volume 01
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From: Sandy Fleming <fleemin at live.co.uk>

Subject: LL-L "Grammar" 2011.04.26 (04) [EN]


> From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Grammar

> Related or not, it makes me think of the fact that titles of news reports
in English use what appears to be present tense, probably more likely the
aorist; e.g.

> Ron Paul *kicks* off exploratory committee

> (= Ron Paul kicked off exploratory committee)

> Obama *reissues* call to cut U.S. oil tax breaks

> (= Obama *reissued* call to cut U.S. oil tax breaks)

> Southwest jet *slides* off runway at Midway

> (= Southwest jet *slid* off runway at Midway)

> Clearly, all these events happened in the past, and this is so stated
within the actual texts of the respective articles.

> Is this title-specific style unique?

> What might be its origin?

I think if you're used to analysing language in academic terms you have to
be careful not to look for a grammatical explanation for what might be a set
of practical considerations.
One thing is that the past tense can sound dull in news terms: Obama
reissued call, when? Last month? Who cares? Jet slid off runway? Is this a
historical article?

I notice that in the first example, the past-tense headline is incorrect!
Ron Paul kicked it off, he didn't get kicked off it!

Sandy Fleming
http://scotstext.org/


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From: Sandy Fleming <fleemin at live.co.uk>

Subject: LL-L "Grammar" 2011.04.27 (01) [DE-EN-NDS]


> From: Paul Finlow-Bates <wolf_thunder51 at yahoo.co.uk>
>  Subject: LL-L "Grammar" 2011.04.26 (04) [EN]

> Wracking my brains, but I can't think of any other use of that "present in
the past" tense, except for headlines.  Even in newspapers, the article
following the headline always reverts to a past tense:

This is quite common in Scots spoken narrative, though rarely seen in
writing. It seems to me that in Scots people tend to slip into this manner
of speech once the narrative "really gets going". You can see an extensive
example in my short story "Economic Theory" at
http://tinyurl.com/economictheory

(Look at that horrific ancient website design! Time for a revamp, I think!)

Sandy Fleming
http://scotstext.org/


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