It’s also a play on an old Henry Ford quote which goes something like “You can have a Model T in any color you like as long as it’s black.”
1 Like
Actually they’ve recently discovered that the model T came in a variety of bright colors but we haven’t been able to tell because the world was still in black and white back then.
6 Likes
1 Like
As long as a piece of string.
8 Likes
About time someone said this one.
2 Likes
Didnt realize I said something funny.
Ah sorry, thought you were making a joke 
I dont think he is aware that Obama is no longer president 
3 Likes
In fact, being an American president is a life long title.
Yeah but you’re assuming everyone else has the same values as you when it comes to honorifics. If you want to continue to refer to them with their title that’s fine, but you can’t expect everyone to do so.
Yeah, I don’t think there’s anything “official” about that, but for what it’s worth Wikipedia does have this to say (with citation):
“…all living former U.S. Presidents continue to be addressed as ‘Mr. President’, both formally and informally, and contemporary experts on etiquette now maintain that it is entirely appropriate.”
Id rather not go beyond joking when it comes to politics on here, but it definitely feels weird to keep referring to an ex-president as ‘President’. Who the heck still refers to “president Clinton” or “president Bush”? The only person im referring to president is the incumbent, regardless of how I feel about them.
I think I hear news anchors and other interviewers refer to them as such as a general practice. I didn’t realize it was controversial.
Taking to someone directly is much different than just referring to them online or among friends. I never really thought about it until I saw someone up in arms that Obama doesnt have a “president” honorific, but now that I did (think about it), it seems strange without context. If I were talking about Obama-era politics, id probably say “president Obama did x”, but it just seems strange to do so in a 2019 context.
1 Like
Yeah, I agree it does read and sound odd, in the same linguistically confusing way that phrases like “The king is dead; long live the king!” do (at least to me). But the practice, as strange as it sounds to my ear, doesn’t bother me on a political level. I don’t think I ever really gave it that much thought, tbh.
It’s my understanding that the ‘media’ is taught to refer to current and former Presidents formally first then use the last name thereafter.
Yeah, we should have them in stock soon. Probably online next week I would guess.
2 Likes