Posted by:
Jesus H Christ
(
)
Date: January 12, 2018 03:12AM
http://worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-jes1.htmIt's like the name of that president of yours, Harry what's-his-face. Now I remember: "Harry S Truman." No period after his middle initial, either.
Here's a key to the mystery of the kingdom on all of nonsense:
"Sometimes an 'S' is just an 'S'"
by Tammy Kelly, archivist
Harry S. Truman Library . . .
"When future President Harry S. Truman was born on May 8, 1884, his parents decided to name him Harry, after his mother’s brother Harrison Young. But what about a middle name? Harry’s parents could not come to a decision . . . .In the end, they entered his middle name as simply 'S,' which led to a never-ending controversy and questions about Harry S. Truman’s middle name. . . .
"But if Truman’s middle name is just 'S,' and does not stand for anything else, why does the Truman Library use a period after the 'S'? The reason is simple: Harry Truman did. . . .
"This leads to another question that Truman asked his friend and former Secretary of State Dean Acheson: What does one call Truman’s middle name? In a letter to Acheson in 1957, Truman writes, ' . . . [D]o you know the word meaning an initial standng in a name but signifying no name itself, as the "S" in Harry S. Truman?'
"This leads to an entertaining response from Acheson, who contacts several librarians and reports back on his search:
"'The essence of the matter is that we are blind men, searching in a dark room for a black hat which isn’t there. The “S” in Harry S Truman (no period after the “S”) does not "stand for anything." Therefore, it cannot have a descriptive noun--"vacuum," "nothing," etc., are already pre-empted. But, more positively, it is something--not representatively, but absolutely. You are 'S' (without a period) because it is your name.'
"One of the librarians stated in her report that she understood Truman’s parents gave him S as a middle name. 'Parents can name their child anything they please, and if they choose to name him X, then X is his name,' she wrote. 'On the other hand, it seems a pity to offer nothing to an ex-President. Why not make up a word? I suggest sic, meaning "so in christening.’"
https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2012/05/08/sometimes-an-s-is-just-an-s/Case closed, people.
Yo, HST: When it comes to your middle initial "H," give 'em Hell, Harry. And you can use that "Hell" to stand for my non-existent middle name, too, if you wish. I really don't give a damn, but there ain't no way in Hell I'm gonna add a period after it, just to make me look important.
I Am What I Am and It Is What It Is: a big, fat nothing burger. Get over it, people.
And I'm especially talkin' to you--yeah, you: the obnoxious Mormon GAs. Get a friggin' life. Quit using those stupid middle name initials to toot your own flute. It only makes you look like the Prima H Donnas that you truly are.
Jesus H Christ!