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Joined: Jan 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Der Quibblemeister finds this headline ill written:
Fragile Cease-Fire Holds in Fallujah
AP - 7 minutes ago
Gunfire was largely silenced Monday in the second day of a truce in Fallujah,
Some non-military firearms are equipped with "silencers".
The headline might better have said "There was only occasional gunfire."
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
I would just say "silent". it doesn't seem to need to be past tense, does it? or leave off the "largely"...
formerly known as etaoin...
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Posts: 79
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 79 |
But can gunfire really be silent? Surely it is the guns that were silent/silenced?
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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My point exactly, dear Hibernicus.
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
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Gunfire was largely silenced Monday in the second day of a truce in Fallujah,
I would have handed the copy back to the reporter with one word : "Recast."
If they couldn't figure out why it was wrong - Well!
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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addict
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addict
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 555 |
But..but...but..it is not the headline is it?
I don't know, Bill. We do say, 'the sound of gunfire', don't we? And so, 'silencing gunfire', doesn't sound all that bad.
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
…it is not the headline is it?
Der Quibblemeister finds this headline ill written:
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Posts: 1,819
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819 |
The headline seems okay to me. Gunfire, the firing of guns (rather than the sound of the guns), has been deliberately stopped. A similar use of "silenced" might be applied to dissent or dissentors. The Czar's critics were silenced. To say that the guns were silent is to suggest a passive or happenstance result. The fact that there exists a device known as a silencer for firearms does muddy the waters slightly, but not so much that a reader would interpret the headline incorrectly.
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Joined: Jan 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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May I suggest re-reading what Hibernicus said?
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