Usually, I find headlines that are unintentional malaprops, but this one about some coins being stolen from Rome's Trevi Fountain is intentionally horrific:
No coins in the fountain....da de da de da de da...
Did someone really think it necessary--or humorous--to add all the da-des? It makes no sense musically, unless this is the shorthand Reuters teaches its editors to write when they deal with music.
I would much prefer it if Reuters stayed away from comedy, and stuck to providing easily parodied imitations of actual news reporting.
Now then, if you need a primer, the preferred styling should be: "Nooooo coins in the fountainnnnnnn..." Draw out the syllables as they would be if you're actually singing it, don't add anything after the ellipsis, and italicize it.
Posted by Terry Oglesby at November 15, 2005 03:50 PM