Question:
Anyone good on English grammar?
I'm writing something at the moment, and house style demands, for example:
According to North Korean president Kim Jong Il...,
but
According to President Kim Jong Il of North Korea.
Just wondering is this a house style for the journal in question (its
Websters standard, I think), or is it the de facto accepted standard for
publication?
Answer:
This is a stylistic rather than grammatical issue: the form used by a
publication will depend on which style manual they use. (The
distinction you've asked about is a widely adopted one, but you can't
assume that any given journal will adopt any given practice.)
There's been a trend in recent years to reduce the use of capital
letters -- it would not be uncommon for manuals to specify "president
Kim Jong II of North Korea" as well as "North Korean president Kim Jong
II" -- but some go even further. (I've seen what strike me as
ludicrous forms -- "the department of the interior", or "the secretary
of state" -- but it's their choice to do as they please.)
In other words, yes: it's a house style for the journal in question
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