A Missed Opportunity

This CNA article headline just kills me.

Hot soup lands stallholder a $1,000 fine

Excerpts:

“She was holding the tin container filled with hot soup at the time, and Lim took the container and threw it at her stall. It landed near her, splashing her with hot soup in the process. A dispute ensued and the police were called in.”

I don’t know about you, but I just felt so uncomfortable after reading this headline.

It’s like there’s something inside just gnawing away at me.

I’m just so irked by it.

I mean…couldn’t they see it?

“Hot soup”?!?

This is practically an open invitation to pun!

Why couldn’t they just have gone for the more natural headline of “Stallholder lands himself in hot soup” or something like that?

That would have put me so much more at ease.

It was right there for the taking.

Sad.

(Sorry lah, it’s just me. I just can’t stand it when a great opportunity with words goes begging.)

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4 Responses

  1. haha… nice

  2. When I was working for the press, for stories like this one, it was a conscious decision not to pun when the news story is not a “fun” and happy sort of story as it may have the effect of trivialising or making light of something that was no laughing matter. I think it was probably a deliberate decision to play the headline the way it is.

  3. Good point, Elaine! I think you’re right.

  4. It sounded pretty intended.

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