As a practical matter, I'm on Team "Follow The Person's Preference Because It's Their Name." My personal preference is periods/no space, but the first part overrides that.
Which reminds me of a similar sort of electorolinguistic conundrum, the one where the name of Vance's running mate is also a verb that I'm now trying not to use lest I appear partisan. (Otherwise that second sentence above would not include "override.")
If Inconspicuous Consumption were just matters of journalistic style like this one, I'd totally be into it, but of course it's so much more great content.
Periods and space are definitely the worst, but also the word processor should do a Ctrl Shift Space which ensures that that space never wraps the line. As a government employee, I do that to make sure a silcrow never stands alone at the end of a line.
I think that if I had a style guide, no periods would be for complete initials of the whole name, like PL for Paul Lukas who has no middle name, JFK, FDR, MLK, etc., but I think I would do J.D. Vance if the last name is spelled out. Apologies then to former Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia who also doesn’t like periods in his name either.
Only medium OT but, similar to today's subject James David Vance, born James Donald Bowman, many US presidents served under names they were not born with. Off the top of my head I can recall Ulysses S Grant (né Hiram Ulysses Grant), Dwight David Eisenhower (David Dwight Eisenhower), Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (Leslie Lynch King Jr.) and William Jefferson Clinton (William Jefferson Blythe III).
Truman used a period more often than not; it seems as if his statement against the period in 1962 was a joke. A standalone middle initial with no definite name to honor two different relatives was relatively common in Truman’s day, and those initials were commonly followed by a period in everyday use even though they didn’t abbreviate any one particular word. Personally, I’m on team follow a person’s preference with regard to their name. But punctuation isn’t part of a person’s name. Vance has changed his name several times, and I’m all for calling him what he wishes to be called. Most of the time, when using an initial as part of someone’s name, whether my own R. Scott Rogers or Warren G. Harding or George R. R. Martin, we use a period to indicate the abbreviation. Since both the J and the D stand for longer words, they’re abbreviated and so call for periods. If Vance decided to style his name J!D! Vance, I’d say good for him and I would continue writing it J. D. Vance. As for the space, I strongly prefer using it, just as it would trip up the reader to encounter John F.Kennedy with no space. But if there’s a risk of orphaning either initial as in the example Paul provides, omitting the space may be a practical style choice. I’m also OK with headline style differing from body style in a given publication.
My grandpa's full legal first/middle name was CB -- no actual names, and no periods. He passed before I was born, but the story he gladly told anybody who asked was that he grew up dirt poor, and not only could his parents not afford to give him an actual name, they couldn't even afford the periods.
Sorry, but this is very simple. The man’s name is JD. Hypothetically, if he changes it to J.D. tomorrow, then it will be J.D.
Put another way, Paul’s name is Paul, even if someone prefers to call him Joe. As long as he's an adult and not trying to commit fraud, he gets to choose his name.
I teach high school composition, and the dot-space line-break problem is real. Fortunately, all the major word processors include a special character that is a non-breaking space (option-space or similarly simple keystroke, depending on OS and application, or insert it via a dialog), and that is the most aesthetic means of getting initials with periods right (e.g., T. S. Eliot, H. G. Wells, etc.). It's also useful for avoiding the ellipsis mark character, a frankenmark invented by the engineers in Redmond, WA some years ago. Ellipsis marks should be three spaced periods, with a space on either side. In order to avoid improper line breaks, you have to use two non-breaking spaces to separate the three periods; and for extra simplicity, you should add this combination to the word processor's glossary or autocorrect database, so instead of turning three unspaced periods into the frankenmark, as is usually the default setting, the application will turn them into a proper set of ellipses.
The N.Y.T. also writes Nascar in lowercase because it's an acronym rather than an initialism, which is to say that I think some of its styles are silly.
"J.D. Salinger" Jerome David Salinger was an American author best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye. Salinger published several short stories in Story magazine in 1940, before serving in World War II.
What drives anyone to abbreviate their name in the first place.
Since we put a space between James and David, wouldn't it be logical (& consistent) to put a space between J. & D. ( or J & D), regardless of how it looks in print?
As a practical matter, I'm on Team "Follow The Person's Preference Because It's Their Name." My personal preference is periods/no space, but the first part overrides that.
Which reminds me of a similar sort of electorolinguistic conundrum, the one where the name of Vance's running mate is also a verb that I'm now trying not to use lest I appear partisan. (Otherwise that second sentence above would not include "override.")
If Inconspicuous Consumption were just matters of journalistic style like this one, I'd totally be into it, but of course it's so much more great content.
Periods and space are definitely the worst, but also the word processor should do a Ctrl Shift Space which ensures that that space never wraps the line. As a government employee, I do that to make sure a silcrow never stands alone at the end of a line.
I think that if I had a style guide, no periods would be for complete initials of the whole name, like PL for Paul Lukas who has no middle name, JFK, FDR, MLK, etc., but I think I would do J.D. Vance if the last name is spelled out. Apologies then to former Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia who also doesn’t like periods in his name either.
Only medium OT but, similar to today's subject James David Vance, born James Donald Bowman, many US presidents served under names they were not born with. Off the top of my head I can recall Ulysses S Grant (né Hiram Ulysses Grant), Dwight David Eisenhower (David Dwight Eisenhower), Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (Leslie Lynch King Jr.) and William Jefferson Clinton (William Jefferson Blythe III).
It's his name - one he made a point to change - so he gets to pick the spelling.
Even if it defies grammar.
Next let's tackle the S in Harry S Truman.
Truman used a period more often than not; it seems as if his statement against the period in 1962 was a joke. A standalone middle initial with no definite name to honor two different relatives was relatively common in Truman’s day, and those initials were commonly followed by a period in everyday use even though they didn’t abbreviate any one particular word. Personally, I’m on team follow a person’s preference with regard to their name. But punctuation isn’t part of a person’s name. Vance has changed his name several times, and I’m all for calling him what he wishes to be called. Most of the time, when using an initial as part of someone’s name, whether my own R. Scott Rogers or Warren G. Harding or George R. R. Martin, we use a period to indicate the abbreviation. Since both the J and the D stand for longer words, they’re abbreviated and so call for periods. If Vance decided to style his name J!D! Vance, I’d say good for him and I would continue writing it J. D. Vance. As for the space, I strongly prefer using it, just as it would trip up the reader to encounter John F.Kennedy with no space. But if there’s a risk of orphaning either initial as in the example Paul provides, omitting the space may be a practical style choice. I’m also OK with headline style differing from body style in a given publication.
My grandpa's full legal first/middle name was CB -- no actual names, and no periods. He passed before I was born, but the story he gladly told anybody who asked was that he grew up dirt poor, and not only could his parents not afford to give him an actual name, they couldn't even afford the periods.
I forget which style guide it is (UK maybe), but the insistence to style it 'Nasa' infuriates me.
Sorry, but this is very simple. The man’s name is JD. Hypothetically, if he changes it to J.D. tomorrow, then it will be J.D.
Put another way, Paul’s name is Paul, even if someone prefers to call him Joe. As long as he's an adult and not trying to commit fraud, he gets to choose his name.
I teach high school composition, and the dot-space line-break problem is real. Fortunately, all the major word processors include a special character that is a non-breaking space (option-space or similarly simple keystroke, depending on OS and application, or insert it via a dialog), and that is the most aesthetic means of getting initials with periods right (e.g., T. S. Eliot, H. G. Wells, etc.). It's also useful for avoiding the ellipsis mark character, a frankenmark invented by the engineers in Redmond, WA some years ago. Ellipsis marks should be three spaced periods, with a space on either side. In order to avoid improper line breaks, you have to use two non-breaking spaces to separate the three periods; and for extra simplicity, you should add this combination to the word processor's glossary or autocorrect database, so instead of turning three unspaced periods into the frankenmark, as is usually the default setting, the application will turn them into a proper set of ellipses.
Was not aware, and appreciate the history lesson.
I prefer J.D. unless he legally changed his name, denouncing "James Donald". Coincidentally, both he and Trump would share a name.
I'm surprised the New York Times is not using periods. Because they do use periods for N.F.L., even though the NFL doesn't use them.
The N.Y.T. also writes Nascar in lowercase because it's an acronym rather than an initialism, which is to say that I think some of its styles are silly.
Pretty sure NYT writes Nascar (not all caps) because long acronyms stick out like a sore thumb
I know they have a rationale for it, but I think being the only people that use that rationale makes THEM stick out like a sore thumb.
Supposedly the "S" in Harry S Truman is not an initial and is simply "S" as in his middle name is S
I’ve noticed the same inconsistency with the two middle names for George Herbert Walker Bush. HW, H.W., H. W., might’ve even seen a H W
He couldn't spell ..
"J.D. Salinger" Jerome David Salinger was an American author best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye. Salinger published several short stories in Story magazine in 1940, before serving in World War II.
What drives anyone to abbreviate their name in the first place.
Jerome Saligner. Jerry Saligner. Why J.D.?
Since we put a space between James and David, wouldn't it be logical (& consistent) to put a space between J. & D. ( or J & D), regardless of how it looks in print?