User:MrJones/Academic and Journalistic Use of Honorifics

The usage, and non-usage, of honorifics and styles varies among academic and journalistic publications, including reference works. As a rule there seems to be a continuum among publications between using no honorifics at all, using some honorifics but not styles, and using all honorifics including styles. In certain cases honorifics and styles may be used according to some other pattern, or selectively only for certain persons.

= Comparison of publications =

'' Press releases, web sites, and in-house publications are not yet considered in this article. ''

Many people have titles. These are of various types and are given for various reasons. Due to the political and historical origin of some of these, there are groups who do not recognise them. There are also groups who believe that no-one should be accorded such a title. Obviously, followers and subordinates of a styled individual will use their style.

Journalists and academics sometimes have allegience or are influenced by one or another of these groups, or quite likely may simply use the title that comes to mind as they are writing. Some publications have style guidelines as to how titles should be accorded, often informed by their views on this subject as outlined above.

Sources may directly quote individuals who use styles, but those direct quotes are not necessarily indicative of editorial policy. In ambiguous cases, the actions of a publication may be illustrative.

Many publications avoid applying titles. Some academic and reference works avoid them entirely. Those sources that use them tend to do so in a narrow context &mdash; the most common rule is that the national royalty are addressed (in newspapers of that nation) by their formal title, but no foreign figures are.

The remainder of this article identifies the actual uses, with URL links where appropriate, in the sections labelled "Styles Used", "Styles Used Sometimes", and "Styles Not Used." Views on the merit, meaning, or background of the usage may be described or linked to in footnotes. When titles are used, there are short descriptions of how. Short quoted examples are given if they illustrate a pattern.

Styles used

 * Middle East North Africa Financial Network


 * Gorkhapatra, Nepali news source; styles used for Nepali royalty, sometimes for other royalty as well.


 * Bangkok Post (link rot seems to have set in on URL)

Quotational uses and press releases

 * Chicago Sun-Times. Found mid-article. No style used in article, the abstract noun "holiness" is used twice, both times in a direct quote (there's a missing closing quote in second case).


 * Court Circular (reproduced by Times of London).  A directly quoted press releases from House of Windsor, not newspaper editorial policy.


 * The Cunard Line. . Major shipping concern that runs the Queen Mary ship (press release posted on Yahoo). This is not an editorial usage by Yahoo.

Styles used sometimes

 * The Nobel Prize Nobelprize.org. Style/honorific  used in the biography of the Nobel Laureate the Dalai Lama.  But no honorific used of (The Honorable) Jimmy Carter, (The Rev. Dr.) Martin Luther King, Jr., (The Rev. Archbishop) Desmond Mpilo Tutu.


 * The Scotsman. One of the most, if not the most important newspapers in Scotland. E.g. Prince Charles styled in, but not in  or .  Styles in small minority of articles where potentially applicable. cf  and . Notice that in both searches roughly half of the hits on first two pages are not applicable to this discussion.


 * Pravda. Style used for Pope Benedict XVI in opinion column, e.g., but not in news articles, e.g.


 * The Nation, Thailand. Style used only for King of Thailand (per Thai law), e.g. ; not for Popes  or foreign royalty


 * Times of Oman. Style used only of Sultan Qaboos bin Said (and other Omani royalty), but not of Saudi royalty in same article, e.g. ; nor of Catholic popes, e.g.


 * CNN. Styles generally not used, but sometimes in "human interest" section, e.g. His Holiness, referring to the Dalai Lama. Also here (but this looks like implicit quotation)


 * That most British of all institutions, the BBC: Styles usually not used. E.g. somewhat encyclopedic bios of Queen Elizabeth II,  Pope Benedict XVI, John F. Kennedy.  Some "human interest" stories use styles for British royals, e.g.,.


 * Two newspapers based in Brunei. See and.
 * Brudirect.com more commonly omits styles for foreign monarchs than includes them.


 * Gulf Daily News Styles used of Bahraini royalty, e.g. His Majesty King Hamad, but not of foreign religious figures (e.g. Pope Benedict XVI) or royalty (e.g. Queen Elizabeth II or Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Abdullah).

Styles not used

 * Concise Columbia Encyclopedia, 3rd edition: Not used for Queen Elizabeth (I or II), John F. Kennedy, Pope Benedict (XIV or XV); looked no further.


 * Websters New World Encyclopedia, First Prentice Hall Edition (based on 9th edition of Hutchkinson' Encyclopedia): Styles not used, not even mentioned in article body for QE1&II, JFK, JPII. Other honorifics used sparingly.  Oddly, George Gordon Byron is described as "6th Baron Byron" (right after the name), but the phrase "Lord Byron" does not occur in article; however, Augusta Ada Byron is described as "daughter of Lord Byron" (as well as her math achievements, of course).


 * Bartletts's Familiar Quotations, 16th edition (not an encyclopedia, but well known): Inconsistent usage.  "George Noel Gordon, Lord Byron"; "Sir Thomas More", "Elizabeth I", "Francis Bacon" (not "Sir").  Most honorifics not used, and styles never.


 * Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 1972 edition: Styles never used, honorifics sparingly. Not used for Francis Bacon (mentioned six paragraphs into body). Likewise for various other "sirs".  No honorific used for Thomas Jefferson, but described as "third president ..." in first sentence.  Can't think of a Pope or Queen who makes it in the book off the top of my head.  Interesting example: Duc Francois De La Rochefoucauld, "...was known as the prince de Marcililac until..." (first sentence, but after semicolon).


 * New York Times. Styles not used.


 * That most Murdoch of British publications, The Times of London. Styles not used.


 * Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Styles not used, other honorifics are. Does not use "Right Honourable" for Privy Councillors or "Royal Highness" for Princes, but does use "Sir" and "Lord Firstname," and peerage titles.


 * Encyclopedia Britannica 2004, The Complete Home Library CD: Styles not used. JP2, QE2, Byron.


 * Wikipedias in most languages other than English. Check entries on John Paul II and Juan Carlos I (Queen Elizabeth II in other Wikipedias has been largely translated from English and some, but not all, version retain "Her Majesty").


 * Microsoft Encarta. Styles are not used., ,.

= See Also =
 * Honorifics
 * Style (manner of address)
 * Royal and noble styles

Category:Journalism_standards Category:Titles