# Are News Headlines with informal or slang wording unprofessional? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 5, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-news-headlines-with-informal-or-slang-wording-unprofessional/573604 "2011-03-05T18:47:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-news-headlines-with-informal-or-slang-wording-unprofessional/573604/21 "2011-03-07T23:12:21Z")
I have no problem with “kin” or “gut” in headlines. Type-setting concerns aside, it’s the job of a headline to condense the point of a story in a manner designed to grab the reader’s attention. A reader who is just skimming headlines in the morning before going off to work notices short, punchy headlines rather than those which are more wordy. ---
**Author:** ![xoferew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/e9a140/32.png) [@xoferew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xoferew)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-news-headlines-with-informal-or-slang-wording-unprofessional/573604/22 "2011-03-08T00:03:30Z")
“Tot” is annoying to me because I don’t know anyone who uses that word outside of “tater tots.” Then the mother comes to be known as “Tot Mom” “Kid” seems too slangy for serious news writing. “Teen” seems okay for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-news-headlines-with-informal-or-slang-wording-unprofessional/573604/23 "2011-03-08T00:16:09Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > In the past few years I’ve noticed more and more frequently journalists are using sloppy wording in their headlines and stories. This seems to be a bigger problem with web sites than newspapers. > > I cringe every time I see the word “kin”. Are we in Dogpatch? Is Lil’Abner & Daisy Mae their target audience these days? Why not embed banjo music in the story too? :rolleyes: I protest your criticism of the word _kin_. In the first place it’s hardly slang. It might be considered a regionalism or an archaism, except that it’s quite well-known and likely to be understood; it’s not like writing _velvet_ when you mean _milkshake_. It’s brief and commonly understood. The only reason not to use it is the preference many English-speakers have for words of Latin origin versus Germanic. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-news-headlines-with-informal-or-slang-wording-unprofessional/573604/24 "2011-03-08T02:58:09Z")
What the hell is kith anyway? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-news-headlines-with-informal-or-slang-wording-unprofessional/573604/25 "2011-03-08T03:22:54Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > What the hell is kith anyway? Kindred. Or people who live in your general area and make up your same social circle. Your neighbors, friends and acquaintances. Also, it’s a perfectly good word. It is not slang by any means. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-news-headlines-with-informal-or-slang-wording-unprofessional/573604/26 "2011-03-08T15:37:16Z")
No, it’s not unprofessional. It can be very annoying if it’s overused, cutesy, or the meaning becomes unclear. I think I griped a lot about CNN’s constant references to Casey Anthony as “Tot Mom,” as if there was only one tot in the entire world and we should all know who her mother was. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-news-headlines-with-informal-or-slang-wording-unprofessional/573604/27 "2011-03-08T21:40:05Z")
**STIX NIX HIX PIX!** Or, sometimes an informal headline can become legendary as an exemplar of style, defining a subgenre with conventions and taste of its own. Headlines are the very base of the inverted pyramid, meaning they have to pack nearly all of the story’s most relevant information into the least space, and do it in an eye-catching fashion. Twitter users aspire to the condition of headline writers (and, sometimes, vice-versa). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-news-headlines-with-informal-or-slang-wording-unprofessional/573604.md?page=1)