The print edition of today's Guardian newspaper has, as its lead headline:
"Ministers accused of fuelling anger as rise in violence hits GP surgeries"
Before reading the article, I assumed that the violence hitting the surgeries
meant that the GPs (medical doctors) are having to increasingly administer
medical treatment to victims of violence. However, the intended interpretation
is completely different: the article actually reports on violence that takes
place in the GP offices.
This is even more shocking than what I first thought.
I'd be interested to learn if other readers of that headline would have the
same interpretation that I did. I suppose I (wrongly) assumed that
"violence hits GP surgeries" was shorthand for "the consequences of
violence hits GP surgeries."
For reference, here is the URL for the online version:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/may/31/criminal-acts-of-violence-at-uk-gp-surgeries-almost-double-in-five-years

Interestingly, this headline totally removes the ambiguity I experienced,
which makes me think that my misinterpretation might have been a common
response.

Thanks,

Paul Epstein

On 01-Jun-22 21:01, Paul Epstein wrote:
> The print edition of today's Guardian newspaper has, as its lead headline:
> "Ministers accused of fuelling anger as rise in violence hits GP surgeries"
> Before reading the article, I assumed that the violence hitting the surgeries
> meant that the GPs (medical doctors) are having to increasingly administer
> medical treatment to victims of violence. However, the intended interpretation
> is completely different: the article actually reports on violence that takes
> place in the GP offices.
> This is even more shocking than what I first thought.
> I'd be interested to learn if other readers of that headline would have the
> same interpretation that I did. I suppose I (wrongly) assumed that
> "violence hits GP surgeries" was shorthand for "the consequences of
> violence hits GP surgeries."
> For reference, here is the URL for the online version:
> https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/may/31/criminal-acts-of-violence-at-uk-gp-surgeries-almost-double-in-five-years
>
> Interestingly, this headline totally removes the ambiguity I experienced,
> which makes me think that my misinterpretation might have been a common
> response.
>
> Thanks,

Sadly, I had no trouble in understanding the intent of the headline you
reported.

On the other hand, I suspect that ambiguous headlines are now considered
a standard form of click-bait.

Yes I know you mentioned the print edition, but no doubt the article
appears in both formats.

--
Sam Plusnet