Just reading on another thread a poster referring to Jimmy Carter as "President Carter", which of course he isn't any longer. And pondering on this, I find the US manner of referring to politicians confusing.

I understand a direct form of address for a president would be "Mr. President" that makes sense. However I find the popular use of "President", which I understand is a job title rather than a formal personal title*, confusing.

To make matters more confusing, our press appear to be adopting this US convention of using a political job title or description as a kind of formal personal title, ie: we now often hear references to "Prime Minister Cameron" rather than "the PM, David Cameron, or even simply (as was more usual) David Cameron or indeed just Cameron.

Have I misunderstood or got things wrong? I'd really be interested to know how this trend came about in the US, or if where the precedent for referring to the president as 'President X' originates. Or indeed where other job titles have been co-opted in popular usage as formal personal titles.


CS








* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title#Formal_social_titles