Word Sorting
I can't resist chiming in. :-)
In my former life as a textbook copy editor -- 30 years ago, but it
seems like yesterday -- I was taught that there are usually several
ways to express the same idea. It's the editor's job to suggest one
that best avoids ambiguity and awkward construction. In this case I
would suggest "an idiosyncratic textbook by Robert A. Hall, Jr." The
comma after Hall could be included or omitted according to the house
style. The comma between Jr. and the apostophe just disappears into
the sunset.
--
Jay
On Sun, 17 Jan 2010 09:32:31 -0800 (PST), "Peter T. Daniels"
wrote:
No one complains about "Robert A. Hall, Jr., wrote an idiosyncratic
textbook" -- they might thing it's old-fashioned, but it's how it's
been done for generations. Aren't we advised to avoid expressions like
"the Queen of England's son" anyway?
On Jan 17, 9:11*am, "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:
I think it's the comma after that is regarded as intrusive. People have the
same problem with "Inc." set off by commas, and I know you've seen how
difficult it is to get people to put the comma after years in dates or
states with city names. By omitting the comma before, you obviate the need
for the one after as well.
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USAhttp://word.mvps.org
"Peter T. Daniels" wrote in ...
The overly permissive current (15th) edition of the Chicago Manual of
Style allows no-comma before Jr. and Sr. as well as before numbers,
and younger writers actually prefer to do it that way.
They objected when I wrote "Robert A. Hall, Jr.,'s idiosyncratic
textbook".
On Jan 16, 5:15 pm, "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:
The usage of people who have a roman numeral varies considerably. My
feeling
is that the "correct" version is without a comma. After all, you don't
write
"Louis, XIV" or "King George, III." But many people do include a comma,
whether out of family tradition or ignorance, their own or a secretary's.
I
can attest that the Candler dynasty in Atlanta, which was up to six or
seven
when I was working in the Development Office at Emory, do not use a comma.
Thanks to the leveling influence of the USPS, which prefers all caps and
no
commas, even the comma before "Jr." is becoming lost.
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USAhttp://word.mvps.org
"Peter T. Daniels" wrote in
...
I figured you'd come through with a solution ... in the last one, is
the comma essential? Because usually one would write
Joe A. Miller, Jr.
Joe A. Miller III
(and when I had a tour of the University of Virginia many years ago,
more than one of the name placards on the elite rooms -- the cottages
designed by Thomas Jefferson -- had a VII. By now there might be a
ninth generation of boys with the same name.)
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