Referring to people by titles they now have, before they had them

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There must be a name for what is happening in the following sentence, but I can't think what it is.

If I were to say, "The President liked to play with toy trucks when he was 5 years old" I have referred to the person in this context as, "The President" and yet, he wasn't the president when he was 5 years old.

The words "retroactive" and "retrospective" spring to mind, but they don't seem quite right. Can you think of what this might be called?

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Type: Question • Score: 3 • Views: 1,119 • Replies: 11

@alt731,

The future president.

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The future King George. The future Sir Winston Churchill. The future Duke Of York. The future Moderator of the Church of Scotland.

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For me to call a person the future President, as a child when not yet elected sounds wrong . I would say the President as a child. Otherwise it only really fits in North Korea.
The future King and Queen I would use because they are already choosen by birth,

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@saab,

saab wrote:

The future King and Queen I would use because they are already choosen by birth,

We can use "the future xxx xxx" when we are writing, in the present, about someone in the past, who we already know will later be a president, world champion, king, etc. That is why they are of interest. This is perfectly normal English usage.

Jones' look at Hitler's formative years provides a startling and insightful picture into the future Fuhrer, examining his career as an artist,

Baba Sy was in great shape since he had won his first 6 games - something that remained engraved in the mind of the future world champion Tonny Sijbrands.

...boats that likely transported the future Colonel Parker to America...

Also, it is never certain who will be a King or Queen until the succession happens. Birth is not sufficient guarantee. Princes and princesses can die. Kings can abdicate as in Britain in 1936.

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@centrox,

Here I agree with you the way you wrote the sentences now. But not the way you did in the beginning.

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@alt731,

alt731 wrote:

There must be a name for what is happening in the following sentence, but I can't think what it is.

If I were to say, "The President liked to play with toy trucks when he was 5 years old" I have referred to the person in this context as, "The President" and yet, he wasn't the president when he was 5 years old.

The words "retroactive" and "retrospective" spring to mind, but they don't seem quite right. Can you think of what this might be called?

Well, using our President for an example, "Master Donald, not yet being the President..."

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@saab,

saab wrote:

Here I agree with you the way you wrote the sentences now. But not the way you did in the beginning.

You mean when I wrote this?

Quote:

The future King George. The future Sir Winston Churchill. The future Duke Of York. The future Moderator of the Church of Scotland.

We can write or speak about each of these people at a time in their lives when they had not acquired the title, rank or office that they did later. I can assure you that it is perfectly routine and normal to refer to them thus. I do not really understand what point it is that you are trying to make.

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@alt731,

alt731 wrote:

If I were to say, "The President liked to play with toy trucks when he was 5 years old" I have referred to the person in this context as, "The President" and yet, he wasn't the president when he was 5 years old.

You don't need to modify that particular sentence in any way. Even if it isn't obvious, as it is in this sentence, there would be no need unless it were otherwise important.

"The President" refers to a particular person, e.g., Barak Obama. You could just use that instead.

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@layman,

I don't think anyone would say, for example, "Future President Obama attended Harvard Law School."

They would just say 'President Obama attended...." if they wanted to use the title. Eveyone knows that presidents aren't attending law school while they're president.

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@centrox,

Quote:

"The President liked to play with toy trucks when he was 5 years old"

This is the sentence I mean.. now I when I read again it sounds logical, but somehow confusing to me.
As a five year old boy, the President liked to play with truck toys.
I would like to first write the time it happened and then the title.

1 Reply

@saab,

saab wrote:

Quote:
"The President liked to play with toy trucks when he was 5 years old"

This is the sentence I mean.. now I when I read again it sounds logical, but somehow confusing to me.
As a five year old boy, the President liked to play with truck toys.
I would like to first write the time it happened and then the title.

I understand what you mean and I agree.

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Referring to people by titles they now have, before they had them

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