Jose Carillo's English Forum
English Grammar and Usage Problems => Use and Misuse => Topic started by: Miss Mae on July 26, 2013, 03:15:50 PM
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I just wonder why "Delaraga," which is the middle name of Ramon Bagatsing has to be shortened to "D." in the following sentence: "The late Ramon D. Bagatsing was another PWD who had held a major government post." (Social net expected to widen for PWDs in the Philippines from 2013 onwards (http://josecarilloforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=6005.0)) Can't middle names—which refer to the mother's maiden surname in the Philippines—be used in formal writings?
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Unless absolutely called for, providing the middle name of a person identified in published articles is a needless imposition on the reader, an eyesore in the mass of text, and a drag to the flow of the narrative or exposition. This is why it has become axiomatic and a matter of style for published works to do away with middle names and middle initials. The only instances that middle names or initials are allowed or condoned in published work are (a) when the person has to be distinguished from another who has the same first name and surname, (b) when the person is a well-known female who gets married, in which case it becomes desirable to use both her maiden name and her married surname to alert the reader that she is the same person, or (c) when the person is convicted of a crime, in which case it becomes absolutely necessary to provide his or her middle name to clearly distinguish him or her from others who may have the same first name and surname. To provide surnames in published articles for reasons other than these three is likely to be misconstrued as an affectation on the part of the writer or an attempt to patronize the person being identified.
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That's unfair!