"Curse eclipsed!"

SeaRaven · **Posted:** Wed Oct 27, 2004 10:43 pm

Bet no one else thinks of that.

Phillip Blanchard · **Posted:** Wed Oct 27, 2004 10:44 pm

Sucker.

Guest · **Posted:** Wed Oct 27, 2004 11:03 pm

"Fish fly. Rocks swim. Why not? Sox win!"

SeaRaven · **Posted:** Thu Oct 28, 2004 2:33 am

The Miami Herald
Designer's Comments:
I think I'll wait another 86 years before I do this again.------------------

Daily Herald
Designer's Comments:
I was so glad Boston won because I was thinking about this page all day. People really liked the headline, I was a little leary about it but it works.
------------------

Greensboro News and Record
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San Diego Union-Tribune
------------------(Pages from
www.newspagedesigner.com)[ October 28, 2004: Message edited by: SeaRaven ]

Matthew Grieco · **Posted:** Thu Oct 28, 2004 7:06 am

Speaking of all the "Sox 86 the Curse" headlines ...How many people do you think get that? Sure, most baseball fans will understand the reference to 1986, but how many will know that "86" is slang for "cancel"? I had never heard that term until someone explained it to me this morning. I'm still rather dubious about it. Where does it come from?

JT · **Posted:** Thu Oct 28, 2004 7:31 am

<blockquote>quote:<hr> I had never heard that term until someone explained it to me this morning. I'm still rather dubious about it. Where does it come from?[/QB]<hr></blockquote>I've always heard it attributed and used in the food or culinary industries. "86 the lasagna," from the kitchen staff means there isn't any more available, so by extension..."all gone"..."it's over"..."ain't no mo'."No idea how it originated or got into common use.JT

jjmoney62 · **Posted:** Thu Oct 28, 2004 8:57 am

It's been 86 years since they won. I like the idea for the headline, but "86ED" is subliterate.Don Adams might know the origins of the reference, which is commonly recognized enough for us to use.

Jolieblonde · **Posted:** Thu Oct 28, 2004 9:46 am

This is what dictionary.com had to say: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=86ed&r=67

Matthew Grieco · **Posted:** Thu Oct 28, 2004 10:27 am

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by jjmoney62:
It's been 86 years since they won.<hr></blockquote>Yeah, I got that too, but the use of 86 as a verb was what baffled me.Your moneyless namesake made things clear, although I'm now unbearably curious about the etymology.

Matthew Grieco · **Posted:** Thu Oct 28, 2004 10:32 am

The Word Detective doesn't have a definitive answer, but guesses that it may come from cockney rhyming slang for "nix," which would have been my guess as well.

Jolieblonde · **Posted:** Thu Oct 28, 2004 11:05 am

I liked American Heritage's suggestion:
[Perhaps after Chumley's bar and restaurant at 86 Bedford Street in Greenwich Village, New York City.]

jjmoney62 · **Posted:** Thu Oct 28, 2004 2:15 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Matthew Grieco:
Yeah, I got that too, but the use of 86 as a verb was what baffled me.
<hr></blockquote>I knew the usage as a verb was baffling to you. My pointing out the 86-year time frame was just to highlight the additional reference the headline made -- apparently both to 1986 and the 86-year wait. My other point was that I think "to 86 something" is a common enough reference to use in a headline. And finally, no matter how you spell 86ed or 86'd, "86ED" is wrong, even in an all-caps hed.

SeaRaven · **Posted:** Thu Oct 28, 2004 2:30 pm

FYI: The "winner" appears to be Cursed to First.

Phillip Blanchard · **Posted:** Thu Oct 28, 2004 2:35 pm

The use of "86" in these headlines is unacceptable, even for sports. It doesn't make sense in that context. For the guy who used reverse type: I'll bet you thought that was klever. Did you include the bank hed for people who "didn't get it"?[ October 28, 2004: Message edited by: blanp ]

Phillip Blanchard · **Posted:** Thu Oct 28, 2004 2:37 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Matthew Grieco:

How many people do you think get that? Sure, most baseball fans will understand the reference to 1986, but how many will know that "86" is slang for "cancel"?<hr></blockquote>It's not.

ADKbrown · **Posted:** Thu Oct 28, 2004 3:45 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by blanp:
For the guy who used reverse type: I'll bet you thought that was klever. Did you include the bank hed for people who "didn't get it"?[ October 28, 2004: Message edited by: blanp ]<hr></blockquote>I still don't get it. How was the curse "reversed"?

jjmoney62 · **Posted:** Thu Oct 28, 2004 3:49 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by SeaRaven:
FYI: The "winner" appears to be [b]Cursed to First.[/b]<hr></blockquote>That is so last week (when I used it on a Schaugnessy column).

jjmoney62 · **Posted:** Thu Oct 28, 2004 3:50 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by blanp:
The use of "86" in these headlines is unacceptable, even for sports. It doesn't make sense in that context. [ October 28, 2004: Message edited by: blanp ]<hr></blockquote>Don't be so coy. Come out and tell us what it means and why it shouldn't be used in this context.

jjmoney62 · **Posted:** Thu Oct 28, 2004 3:52 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by ADKbrown:
I still don't get it. How was the curse "reversed"?<hr></blockquote>In a literal sense it wasn't. Geez, literally, it isn't a curse, either. But "reverse the curse" was common parlance among fans.

SeaRaven · **Posted:** Thu Oct 28, 2004 5:08 pm

Sure glad I wasn't at the meeting where it was decided how many exclamation points to use.

ndugan1 · **Posted:** Thu Oct 28, 2004 5:18 pm

In jest, I threw out "Curse of the Bambino: 1918-2004" to our sports department.Horrifyingly enough, on 1A of USA Today, there was "RIP CURSE 1918-2004" screaming me in the face.

Phillip Blanchard · **Posted:** Thu Oct 28, 2004 7:23 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by jjmoney62:
Don't be so coy. Come out and tell us what it means and why it shouldn't be used in this context.<hr></blockquote>To "86" is to toss someone out of a bar.

cannep · **Posted:** Thu Oct 28, 2004 9:10 pm

I was off yesterday. This morning, this greeted me on our front page: "Curse closed"Not only does it not make sense as it is (how can you close a curse?), but it relies on ridiculous non-rhyming. And for the record, "Case closed" doesn't make much sense here, either. When I mentioned it to our wire editor, he said he thought it was great, that it made perfect sense and that "pretty much everybody in the newsroom loved it."I thought the unspoken rule was, if the editor in chief loves a hed, you probably shouldn't run it. Am I wrong? Was "Curse closed" a great hed? And what's wrong with just printing what happened, in plainspeak: "Red Sox win," or even "Sox clinch championship," if you must get wordy.

Phillip Blanchard · **Posted:** Thu Oct 28, 2004 10:26 pm

"Curse closed" is a bad hed, but you know that.

Matthew Grieco · **Posted:** Thu Oct 28, 2004 10:50 pm

I actually kind of like "Curse closed." It's better than most of the heds mentioned in this thread. Mr. Blanchard may crucify me for saying this, but there's one major exception I make to my general distaste for wordplay headlines: heds that announce the outcome of major sporting events. These headlines are meant to be mementos first and foremost.News needs to be serious and to the point. Sports needs to be fun. I don't think we need a uniform rule about wordplay that covers all genres. The cover of a sports section the day after the World Series, Super Bowl or other such event ought to be suitable for framing and we ought not be ashamed of making it so.

Matthew Grieco · **Posted:** Thu Oct 28, 2004 10:53 pm

Oh, and one more thing. I think the non-rhyming slant is a positive. It's just close enough to make sense and distinct enough that it doesn't sound stupidly generic. Thumbs up on that.

jjmoney62 · **Posted:** Fri Oct 29, 2004 7:31 am

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by blanp:
To "86" is to toss someone out of a bar.<hr></blockquote>There's another definition or two, but you knew that.

ADKbrown · **Posted:** Fri Oct 29, 2004 8:06 am

Red Sox fanatic Gary Duquette named his son Bostyn. The boy will have to watch the 2004 World Series on videotape some day to appreciate Dadâ€™s sense of humor. -- Plattsburgh Press-Republican.*Good one, Dad.*

Bumfketeer · **Posted:** Fri Oct 29, 2004 10:41 am

Back to "86"...I worked at a restaurant for a summer, and when something was "86" it meant we were out of it.Whoever thought the 86 thing was clever was wrong. Many people have no idea what it means, and there seems to be some confusion about the meaning even among people who know the term.

jjmoney62 · **Posted:** Fri Oct 29, 2004 11:27 am

Only we -- the special people -- are smart enough or hip enough to understand the term.

Bumfketeer · **Posted:** Fri Oct 29, 2004 11:40 am

Of course.

wordygurdy · **Posted:** Fri Oct 29, 2004 12:12 pm

A friend of mine in Mass. who's the assistant sports editor of his paper (and writes headlines) used "CURSE 86'ED" in 170-point red type.I thought it was clever and knew what the verb "86" meant.Here's Merriam Webster's definition:Main Entry: eighty-six
Variant(s): or 86 /"A-tE-'siks/
Function: transitive verb
Etymology: probably rhyming slang for 3nix
slang : to refuse to serve (a customer); also : to get rid of : THROW OUT

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