Not The Onion

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FEMA Official Says He Teleported to Waffle House. Experts Are Dubious. (www.nytimes.com)

submitted 14 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) by silence7@slrpnk.net to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world

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The NYT was roundly mocked for the original headline and has now changed it to

No One at Waffle House Remembers FEMA Official Who Says He Teleported In

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[–] tal@lemmy.today 3 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Understatement

Understatement is an expression of lesser strength than what the speaker or writer actually means or than what is normally expected. It is the opposite of embellishment or exaggeration, and is used for emphasis, irony, hedging, or humor.

Understatement also merges the comic with the ironic, as in Mark Twain's comment, "The report of my death was an exaggeration."

[–] MerryJaneDoe@piefed.world 5 points 11 hours ago

Your average American is not intelligent enough to decipher the clever wordsmithing of the average journalist.

In an age where sensationalistic headlines are the norm, an understated headline can seem to lend credibility to the absurd.

This is not a problem, though. I enjoy eating popcorn and watching the world burn.