Betteridge's law

English 2019 May 3 Etymology Named after British technology journalist Ian Betteridge who wrote about the phenomenon in a February 2009 online article,Ian Betteridge TechCrunch: Irresponsible Journalism http://www.technovia.co.uk/2009/02/techcrunch-irresponsible-journalism.html https://web.archive.org/web/20090226202006/http://www.technovia.co.uk/2009/02/techcrunch-irresponsible-journalism.html 26 February 2009 Technovia 23 February 2009. although the general concept is older. Pronunciation en /ˈbɛtɹɪd͡ʒɪz ˌlɔː/ RP en LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Betteridge's law.wav Southern England en /ˈbɛtɹɪd͡ʒəz ˌlɔ/ GA en /ˈbɛtɹɪd͡ʒəz ˌlɑ/ Canada,parts of US en LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Betteridge's law.wav Southern England en Bet te rid ge's law Proper noun en journalism An adage stating that any headline ending in a question mark can be correctly answered by the word "no". en Davis's law en w:Jon Evans Pair Programming Considered Harmful? https://techcrunch.com/2012/03/03/pair-programming-considered-harmful/ https://web.archive.org/web/20170715200008/https://techcrunch.com/2012/03/03/pair-programming-considered-harmful/ 15 July 2017 w:TechCrunch 3 March 2012 No, no, hell no. The true answer is that there is no one answer; that what works best is a dynamic combination of solitary, pair, and group work, depending on the context, using your best judgement. Paired programming definitely has its place. (Betteridge’s Law strikes again!) In some cases that place may even be “much of most days.” But insisting on 100 percent pairing is mindless dogma, and like all mindless dogma, ultimately counterproductive. en James Temple Will Google Translate Let Us Talk to Aliens and Dolphins?: Google’s Peter Norvig Says, Umm, No https://www.recode.net/2014/2/6/11623196/will-google-translate-let-us-talk-to-aliens-and-dolphins https://web.archive.org/web/20181112114022/https://www.recode.net/2014/2/6/11623196/will-google-translate-let-us-talk-to-aliens-and-dolphins 12 November 2018 w:Recode 6 February 2014 Conforming to Betteridge’s law of headlines, the answer is no – or at least, not yet. en w:Jonathan Zittrain No, Barack Obama isn’t Handing Control of the Internet over to China: The Misguided Freakout over ICANN https://newrepublic.com/article/117093/us-withdraws-icann-why-its-no-big-deal https://web.archive.org/web/20140330154410/https://newrepublic.com/article/117093/us-withdraws-icann-why-its-no-big-deal 30 March 2014 w:The New Republic 25 March 2014 And from the National Journal: “When U.S. Steps Back, Will Russia and China Control the Internet?” As Betteridge’s Law of Headlines suggests, the answer is no. en Philip Gooden Arts Skyscrapers, Hemlines and the Eddie Murphy Rule: Life’s Hidden Laws, Rules and Theories London; New York, N.Y. Bloomsbury Academic 2015 86 https://books.google.com/books?id=aDY1CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA86 978-1-4729-1502-3 An earlier and slightly mysterious version of Betteridge's law applies to the rarefied world of particle physics. Hinchliffe's Rule – the mystery lies in who Hinchliffe is or was – states that any scientific paper or website posting whose title ends with a question mark is to be answered with a 'no' or, at best, 'probably not'. en Tim Holmes How to Create Great News Headlines Subediting and Production for Journalists: Print, Digitial, Social Media Skills 2nd Abingdon, Oxon.; New York, N.Y. w:Routledge 2016 88 https://books.google.com/books?id=5MNzCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA88 978-0-415-49200-3 Andrew Marr believes that a headline with a question mark at the end is 'often a scare story, or an attempt to elevate some run-of-the-mill piece of reporting into a national controversy and, preferably, a national panic.' (Marr 2005: 253). His advice to readers is – 'If the headline asks a question, try answering "no"' (loc. cit.). This motto has since been parlayed into a 'law' – Betteridge's Law, named for Ian Betteridge after he wrote a piece for Technovia questioning the validity of a news item published under a headline that ended in a question mark. en Ally Fogg This is the real reason more men are dying of prostate cancer https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/05/men-dying-prostate-cancer-reason-gender-bias-daily-mail https://web.archive.org/web/20180612104608/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/05/men-dying-prostate-cancer-reason-gender-bias-daily-mail 12 June 2018 w:The Guardian London 5 February 2018 For the avoidance of doubt, and with a nod to Betteridge’s law, it is not true that the reason prostate cancer research receives half as much funding as breast cancer, despite a higher mortality rate, is because of bias against men. Alternative forms en Betteridge's law of headlines en Betteridge's Law Coordinate terms en Hinchliffe's rule Translations adage stating that any headline ending in a question mark can be correctly answered by the word "no" Hungarian: hu Betteridge törvénye Polish: pl prawo nagłówków Betteridge'a n References Further reading Betteridge's law of headlines en eponyms adages ending in "law"