# Mr. New York Times **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 29, 2004, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-new-york-times/271923 "2004-10-29T21:05:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blackacre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@Blackacre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackacre)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-new-york-times/271923/1 "2004-10-29T21:05:39Z")
I adore the NY Times practice of addressing the principals in its articles as [Mr., etc.](http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/16/movies/16side.html?ex=1129953600&en=1a1a32391f0b499c&ei=5083&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoes) . Anyone know of other publications that adhere to this classy style? BA ---
**Author:** ![Roches](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bc8723/32.png) [@Roches](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roches)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-new-york-times/271923/2 "2004-10-29T21:22:25Z")
Except that they sometimes get it wrong, like with ‘Mr. Hussein’ when it should be ‘Mr. Saddam’. Arguably Arabic names are differently structured enough that it’s not exactly straightforward which to use, and most English speakers thought of him as ‘Mr. Hussein’. What do they do for Asian heads of state? Mr. Mao? Mr. Kim? I’m not sure if they use foreign titles, even for the languages where it’s common to do so in English: M. Chirac, Herr Schroeder, maybe Sro. Ciampi. Or the corresponding official titles for dignitaries. I assume they would at least use Dr. What would be even more elegant, especially in an American newspaper, would be if they followed the British English standard of omitting the final period/full stop when the last letter of the abbreviation is the last letter of the word: ‘Mr Bush met with Mr Blair yesterday to discuss the latter’s involvement in Iraq.’ Or better yet, ‘Messrs Bush and Blair.’ ---
**Author:** ![Blackacre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@Blackacre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackacre)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-new-york-times/271923/3 "2004-10-29T21:45:14Z")
Yes, I like the omission, but why do you specify in “American”? BA ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-new-york-times/271923/4 "2004-10-29T23:08:10Z")
> [@Roches](#): > > Mr Bush met with Mr Blair yesterday to discuss the latter’s involvement in Iraq.’ Or better yet, ‘Messrs Bush and Blair.’ No, I fucking hate that. It’s even worse than the preposterous British practice of uncapitalizing acronyms. My favorite NYTimes-ism is when they refer to over-the-hill rocker/actor Meat Loaf as “Mr. Loaf.” “Mr. Loaf.” Heheheh. ---
**Author:** ![Blackacre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@Blackacre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackacre)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-new-york-times/271923/5 "2004-10-29T23:09:53Z")
Cite? BA ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-new-york-times/271923/6 "2004-10-29T23:11:58Z")
> [@Blackacre](#): > > Anyone know of other publications that adhere to this classy style? The Wall Street Journal and the Economist. ---
**Author:** ![stockton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@stockton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stockton)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-new-york-times/271923/7 "2004-10-30T02:28:55Z")
These folks use the same convention in print, but not on the website: [http://www.worldmag.com/](http://www.worldmag.com/) It leans rightward, content-wise. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-new-york-times/271923/8 "2004-10-30T04:52:00Z")
The _Times_ can be slow to change. For many years, Gloria Steinem was Miss Steinem of _Ms._ magazine. ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-new-york-times/271923/9 "2004-10-30T06:22:58Z")
NPR seems to do that at least most of the time.