# How would you read this headline? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 4, 2014, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-read-this-headline/700376 "2014-10-04T14:01:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-read-this-headline/700376/1 "2014-10-04T14:01:56Z")
**Bill Gates: Apple Pay is a “fantastic” idea and “a real contribution.”** and if the responses aren’t unanimous, is there a better way to word this? ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-read-this-headline/700376/2 "2014-10-04T14:04:04Z")
If the quotes are really there like that, I would read it as withering sarcasm. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-read-this-headline/700376/3 "2014-10-04T14:07:47Z")
I would sound out the big words. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-read-this-headline/700376/4 "2014-10-04T15:57:36Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#): > > If the quotes are really there like that, I would read it as withering sarcasm. here are two links: > **[Bill Gates: Apple Pay Is A 'Fantastic' Idea](https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-apple-pay-is-a-fantastic-idea-2014-10)** > > Bill Gates wants to bring mobile banking to the world's poorest nations and says Microsoft will one day help. > **[Apple Pay Articles](https://www.tuaw.com/apple/apple-pay/)** > > Discover the latest Apple Pay news, updates, and FAQs on TUAW, your ultimate resource for everything Apple Pay. i was told these aren’t scare quotes and are just normal quotes, but it’s hard not to read sarcasm into it even if there doesn’t appear to be any in the short article. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-read-this-headline/700376/5 "2014-10-04T16:10:56Z")
It sounded much worse in my mind when I was imagining a newspaper headline. Looking at the actual headlines, though, they seemed perfectly reasonable and accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-read-this-headline/700376/6 "2014-10-04T16:15:50Z")
AFAICT, all that Apple Pay has brought to the game is the tokenized payment that should have been integral in Google Wallet because it should have been integral in our noncash payment systems a decade ago because it’s been talked about by everyone for twenty years or more. We’ll see if even Apple has the gorilla-weight to make the whole system change. If so, all due credit and appreciation to them for the fight. But like so many Apple “innovations,” it’s anything but. ---
**Author:** ![Salem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Salem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salem)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-read-this-headline/700376/7 "2014-10-04T19:02:03Z")
I think the headline is off the mark relevant to the content of the article. The headline could be a good subhead to a more content-reflective headline. The article itself is rather weak and the writer seems more interested in stirring up some kind of controversy between Gates and Apple than he is in finding out Gates’ plan for mobile banking. Specifically, “Have you asked or considered asking Tim Cook to help you with what you’re doing?” Stupid question. I’m not a Microsoft/Bill Gates fan particularly, but I thought he answered the question well. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-read-this-headline/700376/8 "2014-10-04T22:10:12Z")
I guess my sarcasm meter is completely shot, because I read it as “fantastic” and “a real contribution” as being words that Bill Gates actually used, and not some paraphrase or implication by the writer. And since Gates is quoted actually using those words in a non-sarcastic context, I guess I was right. ---
**Author:** ![iljitsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@iljitsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iljitsch)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-read-this-headline/700376/9 "2014-10-04T23:25:22Z")
If BG said “fantastic idea” then the quote should be “fantastic idea” and not “fantastic” idea. If he said “fantastic \” then also the quote shouldn’t be “fantastic” idea. This writer should get his/her J-school tuition back. (I am not a journalist but I play one on the internet.) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-read-this-headline/700376/10 "2014-10-05T00:47:43Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > If BG said “fantastic idea” then the quote should be “fantastic idea” and not “fantastic” idea. If he said “fantastic \” then also the quote shouldn’t be “fantastic” idea. This writer should get his/her J-school tuition back. > > (I am not a journalist but I play one on the internet.) I play one, too. I don’t see the problem. > [@](#): > > Well, Apple Pay’s a great example of how a cell phone that identifies its user in a pretty strong way lets you make a transaction that should be very, very inexpensive. So the fact that in any application I can buy something, that’s fantastic. The fact I don’t need a physical card anymore, I just do that transaction and you’re going to be quite sure about who it is on the other end, that is a real contribution. Can you be a little more specific about your problem with the headline? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-read-this-headline/700376/11 "2014-10-05T02:12:10Z")
Possibly it belongs here – Columbia Journalism Review column on unfortunate headlines - [The Lower Case](http://www.cjr.org/currents/bad_headlines.php). ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-read-this-headline/700376/12 "2014-10-05T05:12:19Z")
I would read it straight – they are quoting Bill Gates’s exact words about the product.