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Originally Posted by Cynthetiq
My answer isn't from grammar but from wedding invitation ettiquette.
Use both full names John Smith and Jane James-Smith.
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Originally Posted by The_Jazz
He's also correct that this isn't a grammar question; it is an ettiquette question.
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Actually, it would be both a question of grammar and etiquette.
The error of writing "John and Jane James-Smith" is a syntactic error that suggests to the reader that both John's and Jane's last name is James-Smith, when, in fact, it is only Jane's.
It is a similar error as this: "It suggests to the reader that John and Jane's last name is James-Smith." Here, I have erroneously attributed the last name in question as belonging to both John and Jane by default. It is only by adding the second ['s] do I indicate John's and Jane's last names independent of each other.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön
Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot
Last edited by Baraka_Guru; 08-27-2007 at 04:17 PM..
Reason: Added second quotation.
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