(a) banned clone of (a) banned user

[CarloSsS]

In one of the recent post, bhaisahab wrote "Banned clone of banned user". I'd like to ask, would it be correct to use the indefinite article before the first and second "banned" in that phrase? Is this some kind of ellipsis?

[Barb_D]

Think of it as a headline.

[CarloSsS]

Think of it as a headline.

Why did emsr2d2 use the indefinite article here (http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/su...l-problem.html)? Bhai, in the same sense, did not use it. Could "a" be used before the first "clone" in the phrase?

We seem to have a plethora of trolls at the moment and lots of posts which are being closed with the message "Clone of a banned user".

[5jj]

Why did emsr2d2 use the indefinite article here (http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/su...l-problem.html)? Bhai, in the same sense, did not use it. Could "a" be used before the first "clone" in the phrase?

We have a choice here, depending on the context. In normal writing, we use articles with '-/a/the clone of a/the banned user' as we do with other expressions such as '-/a/the representative of a/the recognised body' . When we are deleting a post or banning somebody, we often use headline-type language in the 'reason' box.

[emsr2d2]

Another way to see an example is to look at what people type in the "Reason for editing" box when they edit a post. Let's say I missed out an apostrophe. Grammatically, the whole thing should read "The reason for editing is that I omitted an apostrophe". What it actually says is (in a box) "Reason for editing" and (in the answer box): "Missing apostrophe" or "Apostrophe missing".

[5jj]

Another way to see an example is to look at what people type in the "Reason for editing" box when they edit a post. Let's say I missed out an apostrophe. Grammatically, the whole thing should read "The reason for editing is that I omitted an apostrophe". What it actually says is (in a box) "Reason for editing" and (in the answer box): "Missing apostrophe" or "Apostrophe missing".

Or, in my case, the catch-all 'typo'.