I’ll see your three and raise you one

February 15, 2011

Three perfect words become four, according to this piece in The Wall Street Journal.

Is “Report” really necessary? Isn’t it implied?

But why stop there?

Three words: Pitchers and catchers

Four words: Pitchers and catchers report

Five words: Pitchers and catchers report today

Six words: Pitchers and catchers report here today (local papers only)

Seven words: Pitchers and catchers report to spring training

Eight words: Pitchers and catchers report to spring training today

Nine words: Pitchers and catchers report to spring training here today

I could go on but you get the point.

Truth is, in print edition, editors like to stretch out the headlines to fill the horizontal space (much less so for online versions). It’s an art to convey the proper message giving such limitations.

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