Talk:Mr Smith

Why is this written in the past tense? Mr. Smith is still around, isn't he?

--92.8.99.177 22:35, 25 March 2009 (UTC)

All in-universe articles are written in the past tense here (or at least they're supposed to be). -<Azes13 22:57, 25 March 2009 (UTC)

Period in Mr.

We don't seem to have a period in Mister Smith's name at the title, i.e. "Mr Smith" instead of "Mr. Smith." Is this a wikia limitation, or can it be fixed? Void Dreamer 19:36, November 2, 2010 (UTC)

It's not at all a Wikia limitation; it's a stylistic choice. It comes from the assertion that this is "proper" British English. Apparently the British rule runs something like this: if an abbreviation includes both the first and last letters of the word being abbreviated, no period is used. So in British punctuation, it's Mr Smith but Rev. Arnold Golightly. What's weird, though, is that the British also don't put a period after "Ms", but that doesn't follow the above rule, since "Ms" doesn't actually stand for any word.

Anyway, since the Manual of Style asserts that British English is preferred, there's no period. So there is a reason for it, even if it does, I'd argue, look weird as hell. You can thank the French for this, by the way — they have exactly the same rules as the British on this issue. CzechOut ☎ | ✍ 12:21, January 17, 2011 (UTC)