The US and Iran spent a second straight day firing at each other — around 90 American strikes along Iran's coastline, Iranian missiles and drones at bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Jordan. Iran's health ministry says at least 14 people are dead. Serious, ugly stuff — which is exactly why the headline grammar matters. * Fox's headline the night it restarted: "Iran war back on after Tehran attacks in Hormuz trigger Trump to declare ceasefire 'over'." Look at the machinery. The war is "back on" — by itself, like a boiler. And Trump doesn't decide anything; Tehran "triggers" him. In one headline, the president of the United States is grammatically a mousetrap. * By Thursday, Fox had settled into "US renews strikes on IRGC; Iran vows retaliation as peace, ceasefire stall." Renews. Like a gym membership. And peace didn't get shot down — it "stalled," the way traffic does. Nobody's fault. Just one of those things. * CNN's version: "US-Iran ceasefire crumbles as fresh strikes rock Middle East." Crumbles! Ceasefires, in this grammar, are old cake. And the strikes "rock" the region the way earthquakes do — no launcher, no finger on a button, just weather. * The Washington Post went full scoreboard: "U.S., Iran trade dozens more strikes for a second straight day." Trade. Like cards. Perfectly symmetrical — no opening move, no responder, no decision anywhere in sight. * Here's the thing: a ceasefire is an agreement between people. It cannot stall, crumble, or switch itself back on. Someone decides. Trump said, on the record, that the ceasefire was "over" — his word — and the US then hit 90 targets. Maybe you think that was justified after the Hormuz attacks; that's a real debate worth having. But it was a decision, and almost every headline verb on Thursday was chosen so that no one in particular made it. * When 14 people are dead, "who decided" isn't a grammar quiz. It's the story.