Dear Editor,

I read your Observer editorial of August 23, “Kudos to Janette Stewart and the Peterkin family” and quote from an excerpt in your gracious acknowledgment of those individuals.

“Last Saturday, Ms Candi Rookwood and Mr Kemar Jones, who both live in Jones Town, and who became the first two students to benefit from the scholarships after being successful in the Grade Six Achievement Test, expressed their gratitude for the assistance at a function organised by the fund to recognise their academic success and to present them and others with back-to-school packages.”

But am I archaic in maintaining that referring to the GSAT students, usually 10-12 years old, as “Ms Candi Rookwood and Mr Kemar Jones” is linguistically unusual?

Formerly, the early teen students would be referenced as Candi Rookwood and Kemar Jones without honorifics. Also, in the past, Ms indicated a lack of knowledge as to whether the lady, young or old, is married or unmarried. I noted in the editorial (Mr) without the period, and organise and recognise spelt with s instead of z.

Which do we use? Typing the spelling “recognise” in Yahoo search engine is certainly instructive. Recognise: show approval or appreciation of. For example, “My work is not recognised by anybody!”; “The best student was recognized by the Dean.”

I’d love to be further enlightened by any reader.

Claude Wilson

jaclaudew@yahoo.com