# Quick Grammar Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 31, 2008, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-grammar-question/458348 "2008-07-31T13:35:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lazlo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lazlo/32/9678_2.png) [@Lazlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazlo)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-grammar-question/458348/1 "2008-07-31T13:35:22Z")
[This story](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,394902,00.html) is entitled, “Cops Shoot Wandering Bear With Jar Over Head.” This sentence seems awkward to me and it sounds like they shot the bear with a jar which consequently ended up on its head. Is it grammatically correct? If not, what would be the clearest way to reword it? Sorry for such a rudimentary question, but it’s been way too long since any English classes. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-grammar-question/458348/2 "2008-07-31T13:41:46Z")
Cops Shot a Wandering Bear that had a Jar over its Head. (I also changed to the past tense, since otherwise it makes an assertion about the habitual activities of police officers, rather than about a specific event. But headlines do use the present tense ike that all the time.) ---
**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:** [July 31, 2008, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-grammar-question/458348/3 "2008-07-31T13:49:21Z")
Headlines must be terse, yet carry essential information. Headline writing is an art that, as the OP shows, is often not mastered. For an entire book full of examples I heartily recommend the Columbia Journalism Review’s collection [Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim](http://www.amazon.com/Squad-Helps-Victim-Other-Nations/dp/0385158289/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217512015&sr=1-2). ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-grammar-question/458348/4 "2008-07-31T14:10:50Z")
What **kunilou** said. Headlines also have to fit a certain character count, which adds to the challenge. I’d be inclined to go with something along the lines of “Cops Shoot Jar-Snared Bear.” ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-grammar-question/458348/5 "2008-07-31T14:16:42Z")
It’s something of a dangling prepositional phrase, as the reader can’t tell if the cops used a jar-gun to shoot over the bear’s head or if the cops shot a bear that had a jar on its head. The difficulty comes, as **freckafree** and **Kunilou** mentioned, in that a headline writer has a very specific amount of space to fill and must do so in a way that entices the reader into the article. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-grammar-question/458348/6 "2008-07-31T14:19:45Z")
**Dead: Jar-Head Bear** I love writing headlines. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-grammar-question/458348/7 "2008-07-31T15:14:04Z")
It’s both grammatically correct (for a newspaper headline) and unclear. The two aren’t mutually exclusive. 😉 But it’s not really that unclear. Most people with common knowledge would reject the more bizarre reading almost immediately. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-grammar-question/458348/8 "2008-07-31T15:16:54Z")
_Bear in Jar Shot by Cops_ I find this version almost poetic. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-grammar-question/458348/9 "2008-07-31T15:38:21Z")
Poor, poor Pooh. And all he wanted was some Hunny. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-grammar-question/458348/10 "2008-07-31T15:50:10Z")
_Cops Cap Jarred Bear_ ---
**Author:** ![Lazlo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lazlo/32/9678_2.png) [@Lazlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazlo)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-grammar-question/458348/11 "2008-07-31T17:36:44Z")
Thanks for the replies (and the laughs :D). Yeah, I knew exactly what they meant, but it was kind of grating to read. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-grammar-question/458348/12 "2008-07-31T22:27:46Z")
The _Variety_ version: _Jar Bear Fares Poor; Cops Stop_ ---
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Potato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-grammar-question/458348/13 "2008-07-31T23:52:54Z")
And here I was wondering how the officer managed to pull off the shot with a jar over his head. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-grammar-question/458348/14 "2008-08-01T01:28:08Z")
Another suggestion: _Jar Bear 'Jinx Stopped by Force_ ---
**Author:** ![633squadron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/ee59a6/32.png) [@633squadron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/633squadron)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-grammar-question/458348/15 "2008-08-01T02:49:34Z")
[QUOTE=Lazlo] [This story](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,394902,00.html) is entitled, “Cops Shoot Wandering Bear With Jar Over Head.” This sentence seems awkward to me and it sounds like they shot the bear with a jar which consequently ended up on its head. Is it grammatically correct? If not, what would be the clearest way to reword it? Sorry for such a rudimentary question, but it’s been way too long since any English classes. [/QUOTE] Yeah, it’s awkward, but the editor probably figured people could figure it out eventually. As someone else noted, writing headlines is not conducive to clear grammar. If I (as a technical writer) were writing about this incident in one complete sentence, I would write: Police shot a bear that _they discovered wandering around_ with a jar over its head. Even though the part in italics is hard to parse, I think most native English readers would understand what I meant. We should remember that our goal is clarity, not good grammar. Most of the time, good grammar leads to clarity. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-grammar-question/458348/16 "2008-08-01T03:28:58Z")
High School journalism contests in Texas still include “Headline Writing”. A certain type of kid loves it.