0

Please tell me if these are correct

  1. When the American media report on the American president do they write "President has made the decision to..." ? [so no articles and upper case for the first letter at all times. And the context makes it clear that the reference pertains only to this one.] THE SAME WAY that employees under the [one and only] manager in a company would speak of the manager as "Manager" (e.g. Manager said that you should file those papers). And this manager would also refer to himself as "Manager" -- that how the manager in the British " the office" calls himself, which stands in contrast to the American version where they would, I think, always, use "the manager" or "the assistant to the regional manager" whom Dwight would be.

  2. Let's say the election for president of the US are about to start. In this case, can we say: "all those who want to become president should candidate" [I think we need "the" before "president" [?]. But I believe we should be able to say when someone has been elected president -- "XYZ has been elected President" [so no article. And upper case?]

So does it work like that? This is me putting together some of my doutful observations and some vague research I did in the past.

Improve this question
3
  • I have never heard or seen someone call the president "President" with no name or article. "The president said", yes. "President Biden said", yes. "President said", no.
    – stangdon
    Commented Apr 17, 2023 at 11:54
  • 1
    @stangdon - I think the questioner has seen headlines like 'President visits Wyoming'
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Apr 17, 2023 at 12:03
  • @MichaelHarvey Good point. We get so many questions about headlinese here. It would be good to know exactly what sources the OP is referring to.
    – stangdon
    Commented Apr 17, 2023 at 13:42

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
1

I do not recognise the usage in your paragraph 1. It certainly occurs in Headlinese, but I would not expect to find it in normal text. I've never watched The Office, but if the manager refers to himself as "Manager", I would not regard that as normal usage.

In your 2, there are certain constructions where a rank or title normally occurs without an article. The ones I can think of are

  • as (title)
  • be/become (title)
  • be elected (title)
Improve this answer
1
  • 1
    Possibly worth noting that the manager in 'The Office' (a UK comedy series later remade for US audiences) is a comic figure, a pompous, self-important, and socially inept 'jerk'. Calling himself 'Manager' verbally, or in writing with a capital 'M', is a sign of excessive self regard. Capitalising a role title such as 'President', 'King', 'Manager', etc, is a mark of deference and may be optional. I note that the UK Daily Mail capitalises e.g. 'the King' while The Guardian (the paper I read) does not.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Apr 17, 2023 at 11:33
0

(1) The President refers to the individual currently holding that office. Similarly the manager, though in real life he/she would mostly be referred to by name. (Like Colin, I've never watched The Office.)

(2) 'Those who want to become president' refers to the office, not the individual.

Improve this answer
1
  • Most US style guides advise e.g. 'This afternoon President Biden will open a mall in Milwaukee.' (title and name) but 'My son wants to be president when he grows up.' (role).
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Apr 17, 2023 at 11:47

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .