Naked Science Forum

General Discussion & Feedback => Just Chat! => Topic started by: Pseudoscience-is-malarkey on 15/05/2022 13:56:41

Title: Initials grammar...
Post by: Pseudoscience-is-malarkey on 15/05/2022 13:56:41
There is a passionate, poignant debate in English-speaking countries as to the correct way to write/space someone's initials. For example, should William Claude Fields's first and middle initials be "W. C. Fields", "W.C. Fields", "WC Fields" or "W C Fields"?
Title: Re: Initials grammar...
Post by: alancalverd on 15/05/2022 16:11:37
Passionate? Poignant? Debate?  Every major publication has a style manual. Most scientific publications use a version of the Library of Congress indexing standard, and the UK civil service (including Hansard) generally refers to The Times as a working standard.

You might however like to twist your own knickers over your own "W C Fields' "  or "W C Fields's".

Many classic 12-bar blues were written by W C Handy. Always a fallback to warm up a new band, my old bandleader used to say "When the band's playing like sh1t,  it's good to have a WC handy."
Title: Re: Initials grammar...
Post by: Pseudoscience-is-malarkey on 16/05/2022 06:24:16
Almost every time I ask a question on this forum you brits find a way to turn it into a penis joke.
Title: Re: Initials grammar...
Post by: Bored chemist on 16/05/2022 11:44:58
Almost every time I ask a question on this forum you brits find a way to turn it into a penis joke.
You seem to have imagined that.
Title: Re: Initials grammar...
Post by: alancalverd on 16/05/2022 12:38:56
The appearance of penises in Hansard is, I think, rare and very recent. Honorable Members are mostly what that publication would probably call "compulsive masturbators" but, aside from a lust for lewd tractors,  they tend not to parade it in the Chamber.

Any such reference in The Times would be in a medical or court report and thus a statement of fact, not a joke.