muckefuck: (Default)
muckefuck ([personal profile] muckefuck) wrote2005-08-17 10:16 pm

TERSE LINES FLUMMOX ME

Nothing can make me feel my parser is broken like a news headline. I sometimes wonder if my brain works so differently from that of the target reader that I'm the only who's baffled by journalists' stabs at brevity. Here's tonight's puzzler. Do me a favour and guess what it means before you check your answer at the BBC page where I found it.

Tube death team to brief family

ext_78: A picture of a plush animal. It looks a bit like a cross between a duck and a platypus. (Default)

[identity profile] pne.livejournal.com 2005-08-18 05:18 am (UTC)(link)
Without looking at the article or previous comments on this entry: I'll guess that "brief" is the verb, so it expands to something like "The team which investigated deaths on the recent tubs strikes is to brief [convey information to] the family of a victim".

[identity profile] keyne.livejournal.com 2005-08-18 07:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Yep, that's how I read it.