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Hotmale Posted 14 years ago
Vocabulary

Hit (the) headlines

Hello,

could you, please, tell me whether I need to keep the article "the" in "hit the headlines"? In the Internet I saw both, therefore I'm not sure.

Thank you Emotion: smile
  

Top answer

Omission of objects like A/AN and THE, and HIS/HER, and other small words which can be inferred from context is common in headlines, where brevity is important. Error messages issued by old computer software were the same, ostensibly for the same reason. "ELVIS SPOTTED BY LONELY HOUSEWIFE" would be grammatically written as "Elvis has been spotted by a lonely housewife".

— KrisBlueNZ

  • Omission of objects like A/AN and THE, and HIS/HER, and other small words which can be inferred from context is common in headlines, where brevity is important.
  • Error messages issued by old computer software were the same, ostensibly for the same reason.
  • "ELVIS SPOTTED BY LONELY HOUSEWIFE" would be grammatically written as "Elvis has been spotted by a lonely housewife".
  • Similarly, "LARCENOUS CHEFS TAKE CAKE" would be " Some larcenous chefs have taken the cake".
  • The correct phrase is "hit the headlines", but when that phrase is actually used in a headline, the the would normally be omitted.
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3 Answers
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Omission of objects like A/AN and THE, and HIS/HER, and other small words which can be inferred from context is common in headlines, where brevity is important. Error messages issued by old computer software were the same, ostensibly for the same reason.

"ELVIS SPOTTED BY LONELY HOUSEWIFE" would be grammatically written as "Elvis has been spotted by a lonely housewife". Simi
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Thank you. It's very clear now Emotion: smile
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KrisBlueNZThe correct phrase is "hit the headlines", but when that phrase is actually used in a headline, the the would normally be omitted.
Agreed, but I think "made [the] headlines" sounds more natural to me.
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