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Conference thebay::joyoflex

Title:	The Joy of Lex
Notice:	A Notes File even your grammar could love
Moderator:	THEBAY::SYSTEM

Created:	Fri Feb 28 1986
Last Modified:	Mon Jun 02 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	1192
Total number of notes:	42769

1153.0. "extort faces deverbification" by RANGER::BRADLEY (Chuck Bradley) Thu Sep 07 1995 10:27

We have seen lots of evidence in this conference that there's not a 
noun that can't be verbed.  I thought other transformations were
also discussed here, but I can not find the note.
Moderators, feel free to move this to a more appropriate topic.

This is from the Boston Globe, Friday, September 1, 1995, page 33,
rightmost column.  The headline:

Officer
faces
extort
charges

Drivers allegedly
are shaken down


"Extortion" would not fit in the column, unless smaller type was used.
"Extorted" would.

What headlines would you write?

The body of the story belongs in golden_turkeys. 
Cop stops driver, and gives apparently legitimate ticket to driver.
Then cop extorts cash under threat of arresting driver or impounding car.
When one driver complained to police, they pulled the records of all
the tickets he wrote, and contacted the accused drivers.
Many told the same story. 

Does OJ face kill charges?

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
1153.1		AUSSIE::WHORLOW	My Cow is dead!	`Thu Sep 07 1995 16:16`	18
	G'day how about.. Officer charge- pay or stay! Hiway Cop- Hiway drop dj
1153.2	Been playing WAFB too long.	RICKS::PHIPPS	DTN 225.4959	`Fri Sep 08 1995 09:00`	15
	dj - Your, "Hiway Cop- Hiway drop" Made me think of, Hiway Cop- Drop and Give me $50
1153.3	Next headline: "Cop Cops Plea"	wook.mso.dec.com::mold.ogo.dec.com::lee	Wook like book with a W	`Sun Sep 17 1995 21:35`	6
	The least they could have done was put a period after extort. What's wrong with "Cop Faces Extortion Charges"? It's correct and one character shorter. Of course, it may be longer in a proportional font. Wook
1153.4		DRDAN::KALIKOW	DIGITAL=DEC: ReClaim TheName&Glory!	`Mon Sep 18 1995 02:29`	5
	Welcome back, Wook!! But it seems you're out of practice at the kind of nits folks pick hereabouts. It ain't the TOTAL length of the headline that's at issue -- it's the max wordlength used, so it can be columnized narrowly. Said he verbing a noun tersely.
1153.5	So Sue Me!	wook.mso.dec.com::mold.ogo.dec.com::lee	Wook like book with a W	`Mon Sep 18 1995 21:59`	29
	Gadzooks! (or rather...God's Hooks!) I must be slipping. I beg for leniency from the court of noters opinions, but keep voters opinions tooz yasel', silver plate. Okay, I was just getting warmed up. Smokey Smoked for Ticket Racket or Bear Burned in Speed Scam Officer Admits: I Extorted Money From Elvis Enquiring Minds Want to Know! Wook (I missed you guys.)