here’s the current headline on the BBC website
[quote] Guard ‘quizzed over Saddam video’
A guard at Saddam Hussein’s execution is being questioned over unofficial filming of his hanging, Iraqi officials say. [/quote]
doesn’t it sound weird?
(this thread is about the quoted sentence and it’s validity as an english sentence,for bush bashing please see the other dozen threads in IP 
)
You mean this part? "Guard ‘quizzed over Saddam video’ "?
It’s a news headline, so immune to some of the normal rules of English grammar. Very common usage though, yeah. Not unusual at all.
“Guard quizzed over Saddam video” is perfectly fine for a headline (headlines break conventional grammatical rules to save space, doing things like leaving out articles, omitting “to be” in passive forms, and using the infinitive to express the future (“HSR to open Monday”))
Rules are generally there to be broken. I think that so long as it’s reads ok to native speakers then it’s perfectly acceptable.
no,i was talking about this
[quote] Guard ‘quizzed over Saddam video’
A guard at Saddam Hussein’s execution is being questioned over unofficial filming of
his
hanging, Iraqi officials say. [/quote]
doesn’t it sounds like the guard is being questioned over his own hanging?
[quote=“dablindfrog”]no,i was talking about this
[quote] Guard ‘quizzed over Saddam video’
A guard at Saddam Hussein’s execution is being questioned over unofficial filming of
his
hanging, Iraqi officials say. [/quote]
doesn’t it sounds like the guard is being questioned over his own hanging?[/quote]
Yeah, you’re right. The guard is the subject, so following correct grammar, it would be his own hanging. However, I suspect this rule exists for clarity more than anything else, and in this case I guess everyone knows it’s “the other guy”.
I think I spot an error on pretty much every article I read on that bbc news website, btw.
[quote=“dablindfrog”]no,i was talking about this
[quote] Guard ‘quizzed over Saddam video’
A guard at Saddam Hussein’s execution is being questioned over unofficial filming of
his
hanging, Iraqi officials say. [/quote]
doesn’t it sounds like the guard is being questioned over his own hanging?[/quote]
Technically, “his” is ambiguous; it could refer to the guard or Saddam. If it were to refer to the guard, I suppose the writer would add “won” after “his” for clarification. However, from the context, it’s clear who “hgis” refers to. But it doesn’t make the sentence an ideal example of English.