Media - Headline Origins

Investigating the origins of headline, heading and caption wordplay is detective work. The writers of course are aware of the wordplay - and rely on its recognition by the readers - but neither necessarily knows where it is originally from. It is the recognition, and the wit involved, that make them work. They commonly generate discussion: “wasn’t that the song by …”, “Shakespeare isn’t it?”, “Do you remember the film … what-d’youmacall-it?”.

Suggested origins

· Blithe Spirits - private detective TV series - from Shelley ‘Hail to thee blithe spirit’ in Ode to a Skylark. Used by Noel Coward punningly as the title of his play (and the 40s film) about a spiritual medium. In the plural here as there were two detectives in a new (resurrected) version of a 60s series Randall and Hopkirk (deceased) one of whom, appearing as a spirit, was actually dead in the original series.

After Hours - guest column - visiting e.g. a workplace after the normal or official times of opening, suggesting some special relation with the owner or not quite proper business. Here because it is outside the guest columnists’ normal work.
By Invitation Only - an offer of a pop culture guide - usually added to a notice about some event, function or party that might at first seem to be open to the public. A suggestion of exclusivity. Here the guide is free and there are concessions to various events if you collect a series of weekly tokens.

· Pearly Queen abdicates - gossip column - referring to an item on the film about Vermeer Girl with a Pearl Earring whose leading actress had resigned. The Pearly King and Queen are characters in a London folk tradition, chosen annually in different central districts and wearing a costume covered in shiny buttons.

· Fallen Idol - film review - hmmm - just to show it is often not possible for a native to get to the bottom of a quotation. A film made of the Graham Greene novella The Basement Room was given the title Fallen Idol by its distributors, but before that … perhaps to the idols worshipped at Babylon to be found in the bible? Here it is appropriately used to refer to a performance by Marlon Brando in the 2001 film The Score.

Other examples

· Of Mice and Men - the title of the Steinbeck novel, from the Burns poem To a Mouse and the lines “the best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / gang aft a-gley”.

· Al Capuccino’s - a café selling guess what?! And a reference to the notorious Chicago gangster.

· Athlete’s Foot - the name of a multinational chain of sport’s shoe shops referring to the fungal disease that occurs between the toes of feet encased in rarely washed socks - thus a pun on meaning. An illustration of what would formerly have been bad taste, and thus then incomprehensible as a marketing strategy. A reflection of a society which no longer simply tolerates colloquial use and meaning, but actively celebrates it. Language always follows cultural change.

· Rolling stones - reference to a proverb - a rolling stone gathers no moss.


Headline Origins

Investigating the origins of headline, heading and caption wordplay is detective work. The writers of course are aware of the wordplay - and rely on its recognition by the readers - but neither necessarily knows where it is originally from. It is the recognition, and the wit involved, that make them work. They commonly generate discussion: “wasn’t that the song by …”, “Shakespeare isn’t it?”, “Do you remember the film … what-d’youmacall-it?”. Suggested origins · Blithe Spirits - private detective TV series - from Shelley ‘Hail to thee blithe spirit’ in Ode to a Skylark. Used by Noel Coward punningly as the title of his play (and the 40s film) about a spiritual medium. In the plural here as there were two detectives in a new (resurrected) version of a 60s series Randall and Hopkirk (deceased) one of whom, appearing as a spirit, was actually dead in the original series. After Hours - *guest column* - visiting e.g. a workplace after the normal or official times of opening, suggesting some special relation with the owner or not quite proper business. Here because it is outside the guest columnists’ normal work. By Invitation Only - an *offer of a pop culture guide* - usually added to a notice about some event, function or party that might at first seem to be open to the public. A suggestion of exclusivity. Here the guide is free and there are concessions to various events if you collect a series of weekly tokens. · Pearly Queen abdicates - gossip column - referring to an item on the film about Vermeer Girl with a Pearl Earring whose leading actress had resigned. The Pearly King and Queen are characters in a London folk tradition, chosen annually in different central districts and wearing a costume covered in shiny buttons. · Fallen Idol - film review - hmmm - just to show it is often not possible for a native to get to the bottom of a quotation. A film made of the Graham Greene novella The Basement Room was given the title Fallen Idol by its distributors, but before that … perhaps to the idols worshipped at Babylon to be found in the bible? Here it is appropriately used to refer to a performance by Marlon Brando in the 2001 film The Score. Other examples · Of Mice and Men - the title of the Steinbeck novel, from the Burns poem To a Mouse and the lines “the best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / gang aft a-gley”. · Al Capuccino’s - a café selling guess what?! And a reference to the notorious Chicago gangster. · Athlete’s Foot - the name of a multinational chain of sport’s shoe shops referring to the fungal disease that occurs between the toes of feet encased in rarely washed socks - thus a pun on meaning. An illustration of what would formerly have been bad taste, and thus then incomprehensible as a marketing strategy. A reflection of a society which no longer simply tolerates colloquial use and meaning, but actively celebrates it. Language always follows cultural change. · Rolling stones - reference to a proverb - a rolling stone gathers no moss.