This week: Shame on Uganda, skipping Indonesia, Meloni and our children, Mariage-pour-tous ten years on, Masha Gessen on gender, the promises of Apertude, some Equine comments, and much more...
Another great newsletter... and no, names and surnames aren't used interchangeable to confuse us. It's an old Anglo custom. If it's a first name, it's written without the 's'. If it's a last name, with the 's'. I met a Thomas Thomas in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada years ago. I think I was just as confused as you. He did explain it was something about connecting to the family tree. Like the prefixes 'ben' in Hebrew or 'de' in Spanish, also the suffix 'ez' in Spanish, as in Fernandez (the son of Fernando). Or maybe there wasn't a whole lot of creativity when it came to naming conventions. Not sure, and who am I to explain. My paternal last name is Santiago (I use my maternal last name too, thus the distinction), which in the vast majority of the Spanish-speaking world is a first name.
Love your consistency and relevance, Fabrice. Keep it up!
Another great newsletter... and no, names and surnames aren't used interchangeable to confuse us. It's an old Anglo custom. If it's a first name, it's written without the 's'. If it's a last name, with the 's'. I met a Thomas Thomas in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada years ago. I think I was just as confused as you. He did explain it was something about connecting to the family tree. Like the prefixes 'ben' in Hebrew or 'de' in Spanish, also the suffix 'ez' in Spanish, as in Fernandez (the son of Fernando). Or maybe there wasn't a whole lot of creativity when it came to naming conventions. Not sure, and who am I to explain. My paternal last name is Santiago (I use my maternal last name too, thus the distinction), which in the vast majority of the Spanish-speaking world is a first name.