Alfred Lord Tennyson | Terence Cardinal Cooke | &etc

Factual Questions
1

Oh, you know what I mean: why aren’t they, respectively, Lord Alfred Tennyson and Cardinal Terence Cook instead? We do not speak of Bill President Clinton or Colin General Powell. What’s with placing the title in midstream instead of in front where it obviously belongs? I suppose it could be archaic or via religious custom, but Thomas Sir Mallory never wrote about it and John Pope Paul II has yet to issue any encyclicals on the subject. Somehow I doubt that Katherine Florida Secretary of State Harris will issue a ruling.

Anyone got a clue, or do I need to send an email to Edwin author Newman?

2

In most cases in which you see this, the last name you see is of the title, not of the person. There should be a comma in the name thus: Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

3

However, with Catholic cardinals, you don’t use a comma.

In Los Angeles, the official title would be
His Eminence, Roger Cardinal Mahony, Archbishop of Los Angeles.

However, subsequently you can address him as “Cardinal Mahony” or “His Eminence” if you want to be really formal.

4

A better example would be George Gordon, who inherited the title of “Lord Byron” from his maternal uncle.

5

So nicknames like Dino “The Slug” Concetti and Tony “Brass Knuckles” Ragusa have borrowed this style from the Catholic Church?

6

I shouldn’t be at all surprised.:slight_smile:

7

See an earlier thread Cardinal as a middle name