I can't see a verb-part of the sentence here. Is it even a sentence? Some kind of absolute construction? The picture, of course, speaks for itself and the general meaning is clear, but I am still curious. Thanks in advance!
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3It is standard headlinese. You can look through this site (or various other sources) to find out about that "version" of English. (This site even has a tag for it.) It is not unusual at all. – MarcInManhattan Mar 04 '23 at 06:24
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It's missing a from between him and sinking. – tchrist Mar 04 '23 at 06:24
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@tchrist One could also change "him" to "his" (as unusual as that might sound), although many people would say that it's fine as is. This is the common transformation of a possessive before a gerund into object case. – MarcInManhattan Mar 04 '23 at 06:27
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Below I provide an argument for why you need to treat "him" as the subject of the gerund, not as an object followed by an omitted "from." On the latter interpretation, the headline would not necessarily entail that the walrus is already sinking boats, when in fact the headline clearly does entail as much. – alphabet Mar 04 '23 at 07:16
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3from in "stop him sinking boats" is not needed in the English of the British Isles, where the quote is taken from. – Andrew Leach Mar 04 '23 at 12:43
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@AndrewLeach — The absence of from doesn't sound odd to my American ears, headlinese or not. – Tinfoil Hat Mar 04 '23 at 16:49
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2Does this answer your question? Why is the subject omitted in sentences like "Thought you'd never ask"? See also 'Is article and auxiliary verb omission in modern English an emerging phenomenon?' – Edwin Ashworth Sep 22 '23 at 14:21