4 ms·

Can someone explain the grammar behind the title? It feels wrong, but the fact that it presumably passed NYT's copyediting leads me to believe it is correct. W

by GuiA 8y ago

Can someone explain the grammar behind the title? It feels wrong, but the fact that it presumably passed NYT's copyediting leads me to believe it is correct. What's the "it" referring to in the title? The body? But the body itself has no DNA to properly speak of. A single cell? That is not what the article is saying. Trying to use the same construct for a different sentence: "Every person in this room should have worn a suit. Except he didn't" -> a single person in the room didn't wear a suit, and I am probably looking at him while saying this. "Every person in this room should have worn a suit. Except they didn't" -> there are several people in the room who didn't wear a suit, this feels closer to the meaning of the piece's title?

rando444 8y ago
FYI - https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2017/05/31/new-york-times-ends-its-traditional-copy-desk/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2017/05/...
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carapace 8y ago
You're correct. "All Cells in Your Body Have the Same DNA. Except They Don’t." would be more grammatically correct. I think it passed because it was in the title, rather than the body of the article.
raverbashing 8y ago
"It is raining" "It isn't" It's the same thing.
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meowface 8y ago
It also seems grammatically incorrect to me. "Every Cell in Your Body Has the Same DNA. Except They Don't." seems more correct.
jMyles 8y ago
Yes, it's very sloppily worded. The "it" does indeed refer to "a cell"; the second sentence is like saying, "except (some particular cell) doesn't (have the same DNA as all the others." If this (kinda silly) format is to be kept, a better headline is, "All the Cells in Your BOdy Have the same DNA. Except They Don't." An even better headline is one that is sans the clickbaity style - just "Cells in the Human Body Don't All Have the Same DNA."
optimuspaul 8y ago
I think "it" is the body. If I sit at stare at it and think too hard about it then it feels wrong. But my brain made it work, almost liked it the way it is when I read it at first. It sounds like how the young people talk, which is to say not quite right but we are smart so we can figure it out.

by GuiA 8y ago

rando444 8y ago

FYI - https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2017/05/31/new-york-times-ends-its-traditional-copy-desk/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2017/05/...

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carapace 8y ago

You're correct. "All Cells in Your Body Have the Same DNA. Except They Don’t." would be more grammatically correct. I think it passed because it was in the title, rather than the body of the article.

raverbashing 8y ago

"It is raining" "It isn't" It's the same thing.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

meowface 8y ago

It also seems grammatically incorrect to me. "Every Cell in Your Body Has the Same DNA. Except They Don't." seems more correct.

jMyles 8y ago

Yes, it's very sloppily worded. The "it" does indeed refer to "a cell"; the second sentence is like saying, "except (some particular cell) doesn't (have the same DNA as all the others." If this (kinda silly) format is to be kept, a better headline is, "All the Cells in Your BOdy Have the same DNA. Except They Don't." An even better headline is one that is sans the clickbaity style - just "Cells in the Human Body Don't All Have the Same DNA."

optimuspaul 8y ago

I think "it" is the body. If I sit at stare at it and think too hard about it then it feels wrong. But my brain made it work, almost liked it the way it is when I read it at first. It sounds like how the young people talk, which is to say not quite right but we are smart so we can figure it out.