Variety was known for its playful use of Broadway and Hollywood jargon to pack as much meaning as possible into a small headline or article; examples include "H'wood" and "biz".
[4][5] The accompanying article is based on an interview with Joe Kinsky, who operated theaters in the mostly rural Tri-State circuit of Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska.
[11] Down the years, some of journalism’s most famous headlines have brilliantly suggested what happened and have coaxed the reader to find out more: Wall Street Lays An Egg, Ford to New York: Drop Dead, Headless Torso Found in Topless Bar, HICKS NIX PIX IN STICKS [sic]Similar headlines have appeared in publications such as the Chicago Tribune ("HIX PIX CLIX", 1988),[13] the New York Times ("Hicks Nix Blix Fix", 2002; "Hicks Nix Climate Fix", 2013),[14][15] and the New York Daily News ("HICKS NIX KNICKS TIX", 2000).
[17] The 1942 movie Yankee Doodle Dandy features a scene where George M. Cohan (played by James Cagney) explains the headline to some students, leading to an impromptu dance.
[18] Parodies of the headline include The Simpsons episode "Colonel Homer", which shows "Hix in Stix Love Chix Lix" as a headline on the Springfield Variety,;[19] "Crix Pix Crucifix Schticks" as quoted by Monsignor O'Hara in the musical Sister Act;[20] "Sick Pic Nixes Brit Crit" as a fictional Variety headline in Jonathan Coe's 1997 novel The House of Sleep;[21] and "Nix Pix Shplix Queen" in the film The Naked Gun.