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Its a common practice in American English to use a comma in place of 'and' in newspaper headlines. It is sometimes called 'the Headline Comma', and he justifica
by andyjohnson0 15y ago
Its a common practice in American English to use a comma in place of 'and' in newspaper headlines. It is sometimes called 'the Headline Comma', and he justification seems to be to save space.
There's a Metafilter thread about it here: http://ask.metafilter.com/20720/Headline-Question http://ask.metafilter.com/20720/Headline-Question
English is my first language and I find it hard to parse too, but its not commonly used where I live (UK).
EDIT: Clarified that use is normally restricted to headlines
- jerf 15y agoI would emphasize it's only in the headline dialect of English. Non-native speakers should probably just avoid using it altogether. It certainly can't be used to replace any "and" you'd like in a normal essay or anything.
- andyjohnson0 15y agoThanks. I've edited my comment to make the usage clear.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- jessriedel 15y agoAlso, The Onion has put the headline comma to spectacular use. "Clinton Feels Nation's Pain, Breasts"