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Pedants' corner
Original poster

How would you interpret this headline?

29 replies

chunkychoos · 15/12/2025 15:38

How would you have read this byline on a Sky news app article? (See photo).

I read it and had to read it again a few more times. Surely it should say "....less than it would have done a month ago"? Otherwise you would think that less than a month ago you could buy a house for £6700!

How would you interpret this headline?
OP posts:
FieldOfBeans · 15/12/2025 15:40

Same way you did. Took me a minute.

DappledThings · 15/12/2025 15:41

I think it's fine and not at all confusing. Headlines have to be written in a way that is economical with the number of words available. Even if it wasn't a headline it wouldn't catch my eye as at all unclear.

didntlikeanyofthesuggestions · 15/12/2025 15:42

I didn't think that because I know the price of houses

Original poster
chunkychoos · 15/12/2025 15:44

didntlikeanyofthesuggestions · 15/12/2025 15:42

I didn't think that because I know the price of houses

I did wonder where this magical £6700 house was located!

OP posts:
MotherofPufflings · 15/12/2025 15:45

I think in the context of it being a headline, where you expect brevity and sometimes for things to be a bit unclear, then it's fine. I did understand it first time but I can also see why you didn't!

DappledThings · 15/12/2025 15:53

I've re-read it about 10 times and I don't get what you're saying at all. I can't parse it in any way that suggests there are properties worth only £6,700.

PendantScorner · 15/12/2025 17:19

House hunters could snap up a property for £6,700 less than a month ago, according to data from Rightmove.

Rearrange the words and you get:
According to data from Rightmove, less than a month ago house hunters could snap up a property for £6,700.

Coconutter24 · 15/12/2025 17:28

I read it once and understood exactly what they meant.

Coconutter24 · 15/12/2025 17:29

PendantScorner · 15/12/2025 17:19

House hunters could snap up a property for £6,700 less than a month ago, according to data from Rightmove.

Rearrange the words and you get:
According to data from Rightmove, less than a month ago house hunters could snap up a property for £6,700.

Why would you rearrange the words to get a completely different meaning?

ResusciAnnie · 15/12/2025 17:30

didntlikeanyofthesuggestions · 15/12/2025 15:42

I didn't think that because I know the price of houses

This!

PendantScorner · 15/12/2025 17:30

Because I am an editor. I haven't changed the meaning.

MumoftwoNC · 15/12/2025 17:30

"House prices drop £6700 in just one month"

Fixed it, way fewer words. How do I get the job

Talltreesbythelake · 15/12/2025 17:31

As this is pedants corner, I will note that a byline gives the name of the reporter. Hem, hem. As you were.

ResusciAnnie · 15/12/2025 17:32

PendantScorner · 15/12/2025 17:19

House hunters could snap up a property for £6,700 less than a month ago, according to data from Rightmove.

Rearrange the words and you get:
According to data from Rightmove, less than a month ago house hunters could snap up a property for £6,700.

Or, rearrange the words and you get:

A month ago, house hunters could snap up a property for £6,700 less [than current prices], according to data from Rightmove.

Obviously we all know the ideal would be something like ‘according to Rightmove, the average house price has dropped £6k’.

PendantScorner · 15/12/2025 17:45

@Coconutter24 , the original is nebulous. You read it one way, I read it differently.

@ResusciAnnie , has the average fallen or does the figure refer to only some properties?

ResusciAnnie · 15/12/2025 18:33

PendantScorner · 15/12/2025 17:45

@Coconutter24 , the original is nebulous. You read it one way, I read it differently.

@ResusciAnnie , has the average fallen or does the figure refer to only some properties?

Edited

We don’t know that from any of the suggested headlines on this thread, hence I said ‘something like’.

AgentPidge · 15/12/2025 18:39

I think that to get your meaning you'd need a comma after the £6,700. It's been done for brevity and it's inelegant but it's obvious what they mean.

ViaRia01 · 15/12/2025 18:47

Did you read the article? Whether or not it was a mistake surely depends on the actual context of the article.

I had a quick search on right move just now for the lowest priced property in barrow-in-Furness - £10,000. A 1 bed flat in a bad state of repair. I just plucked out Barrow as a place but I’m sure there are cheaper places to buy as well. So just under £7,000 for ‘a property’ somewhere in UK seems quite plausible. But also it feels wrong because “houses are unaffordable” so that makes it headline-worthy.

Coconutter24 · 15/12/2025 18:48

PendantScorner · 15/12/2025 17:45

@Coconutter24 , the original is nebulous. You read it one way, I read it differently.

@ResusciAnnie , has the average fallen or does the figure refer to only some properties?

Edited

I don’t think it’s nebulous at all. I’m failing to see how anyone can not understand it when it’s clear what is being said

TheTowerAtMidnight · 15/12/2025 18:51

It's very clear what it means. It takes some mental gymnastics to think it's saying that there were houses available for £6700 in November!

PendantScorner · 15/12/2025 19:12

@Coconutter24 , @TheTowerAtMidnight I disagree. The meaning is not clear. It's fairly clear what they are trying to say but it's poor writing.
No mental gymnastics at all needed.

ThesebeautifulthingsthatIvegot · 15/12/2025 19:23

It is ambiguous. I think it's something to do with parsing, but I don't know!

House hunters could snap up a property for £6,700 less than a month ago, according to data from Rightmove. - prices are 6700 less than 4 weeks ago.

House hunters could snap up a property for £6,700 less than a month ago, according to data from Rightmove. - at some point in the last 4 weeks, people were buying houses for a pittance

And just for fun, let's throw a comma in and give a third meaning...
House hunters could snap up a property for £6,700, less than a month ago, according to data from Rightmove. - would mean we can now buy some super cheap properties (which were more expensive a month ago)

Fairyvocals · 15/12/2025 20:53

The wording is ambiguous but context is everything - very few readers in the UK are going to read it and think you can get a house for “around £6,700.”

Fairyvocals · 15/12/2025 20:54

(Also, to be pedantic, that’s a standfirst not a byline.)

Notmyreality · 15/12/2025 20:58

DappledThings · 15/12/2025 15:53

I've re-read it about 10 times and I don't get what you're saying at all. I can't parse it in any way that suggests there are properties worth only £6,700.

Same. It’s fine and makes sense to me.

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