Web Excursions 2021-10-19
The Grammarphobia Blog: Seamstresses, midwives, and gender
The original term for someone who sews was “seamster”
and it referred to men as well as women for hundreds of years—
until “seamstress” appeared in the 17th century.
“Tailor” and “needleworker” refer to someone who sews for business,
while “sewist” usually means someone who sews as a hobby.
We’ve seen “sewer” used both ways,
though some people are reluctant to use it because it’s spelled the same as the conduit for sewage.
in discussing the winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress, we’d use “actress,”
and in talking about a female sewer (pronounced SOH-er) for a fashion show, we’d use “seamstress,” the usual term for a woman who sews professionally.
As for “midwife,” it’s not a gendered term
When midwif appeared in Middle English, mid meant “with” and wif meant woman, as we note in a 2016 post.
So etymologically “midwife” refers to someone (usually a woman, but not always) who is “with” a woman giving birth
the term has also been used since at least the 17th century in reference to men.
How to write great headlines that keep readers engaged
Headlines should be specific
include enough detail so they can connect to the story and make a decision.
the purpose of a good headline isn’t only to get people to click
We want to create a positive experience for people — from spotting the headline to clicking to reading/watching/listening to sharing to returning.
if it’s a good story, the headline will reflect it.
E.g., After reaching out his hand, President Obama will step foot in Cuba
Headlines should be easy to understand
avoid names and acronyms that aren’t universally recognized.
avoid words that almost only appear in headlines
(“5 headline ideas you can mull to bolster your stories”).
You should also consider how people will be able to understand your headline out of context, without an image next to it
E.g., For sale: one used internet company called Yahoo
Headlines should lead to a reaction
E.g., Edison's talking dolls can now provide the soundtrack to your nightmares
Headlines should not be overly clever
A headline with a pun or a cultural reference is fun to write, but is it needed?
creative and unique and full of life, but not too clever. Don’t use sight of the promise.
E.g., Ancient tomb in Spain destroyed and replaced with a picnic table
Headlines should capture the spirit of the story
If the story is written with voice, that voice should maybe come through in the headline. On the other hand, if the story is newsy and straight-forward, maybe it doesn’t need a lot of voice injected into it.
E.g., I guess we gotta talk about Macklemore's “White privilege” song
Optimizing Content with A/B Headline Testing: Changing Newsroom Practices | Hagar | Media and Communication
4.1.2. Toward Best Practices
Participants talked about a variety of headline writing best practices. These ranged from specific, mechanical rules around headline construction (e.g., including salient quotes and numbers, starting explanatory headlines with “how” or “why,” referencing important people and organizations by name, and using relevant SEO terms) to more subjective ideals (e.g., highlighting the smartest angle of a story, conveying a story’s importance and timeliness, maintaining a conversational tone, and matching the publication’s style). There were no contradictions in what constituted a best practice between newsrooms, suggesting the emergence of a consistent set of data-driven beliefs about headline writing.