‘Tontolar’ is the term I coined one day to describe thenonsense that seems to be uttered by someone or concocted by someone in the media and ends up as a headline.
They generally have a fixed structure, usually like this:
“So-and-so, colon, the ultimate nonsense uttered by the loquacious politician mentioned before the colon”
But there are other variations, such as those taken from various studies, silly ones or even non-existent ones. Others are attempts at jokes or puns by the editor in a bid to come across as witty and attract more clicks, which often result in absurd headlines.
These are daft headlines that the media pick up and amplify, and they quickly reach the gullible masses who will repeat them relentlessly throughout the day – or for a few hours or minutes – because the lifespan of any news story is getting shorter and shorter, and the next one comes along quickly, pushing hard with a barrage of tweets. There are only a few varieties of ‘Tontolares’, but the sheer volume is overwhelming.
Translation of the headline: ‘Is the World Cup final already decided? A children’s book published in the US predicts the result’ Just because the Tontolares have been rather neglected doesn’t mean they’ve lost their appeal. The World Cup is a breeding ground for nonsense because, once the thousand or so trivial anecdotes and ... Read more
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