Friday, July 26, 2013
Overdescribed
News item:
The Army says it's responsible for the low-flying military helicopters with spotlights that buzzed around the small town of Port Angeles, Wash., late Thursday. An Army official is apologizing for the unannounced training mission. Dozens of residents called police to ask what was going on. Mayor Cherie Kidd said Friday the choppers, in her words, "terrorized my city." The Peninsula Daily News reports Army Col. H. Charles "Chuck" Hodges Jr. termed the episode "totally unacceptable" and added his apology.The event is irrelevant. The name of the Colonel is what bothers me. Col. H. Charles "Chuck" Hodges Jr. First, way too many ch and j sounds all crammed together. You have to stop between syllables to clean out your spit valve. Second, you shouldn't be including a nickname in an official-style name. The Col makes it official, and the FBI-style first initial makes it official, and the Jr makes it official, so it's triply official. Leave out the nickname. Third, Chuck is the automatic nickname for Charles, so it's redundant. If you have to put it in for some reason, leave out Charles. Write something like H.C. "Chuck" Hodges. That's the standard Southern format for nicknames. ¶ 10:19 AM
