Why don't people refer to Obama as Barack first Obama second?

Obama or Barack? Or Barack Hussein Obama? I don't get it, it seems people have, on unconscious impulse, chosen just "Obama". Its not like we would mistake him for someone else if people were just referring to him as Barack.

I thought it was socially, morally objectionable or offensive to refer to people by just their last name. Or is it his first name "Barack" that puts people off. I don't know, I'm probably reading into something that isn't even there. I don't know why it occurred to me, I was just googling Barack Obama and it seemed that the majority of the results were just "Obama this" or "Obama that" . What is that?

I think it's fairly common to refer to presidents by their last name... Bush, Reagan, Clinton, Carter... I call him Barack when talking to my husband sometimes, but most of the time, on here, it's Obama.

I don't see anything wrong or unusual about it. Everyone I have encountered refers to the current administration by their last names, same with Clinton. It's just kind of the way it works. Don't worry too much about it. Yes if you were simply conversing with Joe Brown on the street and only referred to him as Brown it might be a bit odd... but last names are pretty common when used to reference people in powerful government positions.

interesting question and you're right, it can be a bit rude or arrogant to call someone by their surname as opposed to their christian name.

in this case though i think poster #2 has hit the nail on the head; with presidents (or prime ministers, we get the same over here) it's just become common practice and no offense is intended.

it's also probably an identification thing - if you talk about bill or george there can be uncertainty as to who you're referring to. if you say bush or clinton your listener/reader immediately identifies who you're speaking of.

of course everyone knows who 'barack' is too due to his unusual name but by now using the surname is just the done thing.

reply to post by ll__raine__ll


Well I agree that it's standard with presidents that is not all that we do that way...

Who knows all Justices of the supreme courts first names? who knows all their last names? Who knows all 9

This is not done with a purpose I don't think it is just the way we Americans refer to our representatives sometimes.

Like every other political figure before him, last name is how they are discussed.

perhaps we don't want to confuse him with all the other Baracks.

Reminds me of when I was in the Navy. No one had first names. We all called each other by our last names. Could have something to do with having our last names on our uniforms.

Actually calling someone by their first name denotes familiarity.

reply to post by darkelf


Yes, I would much rather be referred to by my first name and not my last. I just think maybe Mr. Obama would prefer it that way as well, out of respect, because he is not just another Clinton or Bush right? He is better than that and we should place him above the stereotype. I'm not trying to be righteous or anything it just seems like the way it should be. We should be proud to say Barack Obama as we still refer to the late great John F. Kennedy. Maybe he has to earn that entitlement?

reply to post by robotically


I say Obama because for one, it sounds nicer to me, it flows better in my opinion, just like I say (writing it like it sounds) TAMAYTOE rather than TAMATOE. I just like the way it sounds to personally.

Also, you don't see people referring to Bill Clinton as William, sometime Bill, sometimes just Clinton, we call our current president "Dubbya" out of love right?

If you REALLY wanted to be politically correct, you'd refer to each and every one of them as Mr. President or President-Elect.




[edit on 12-12-2008 by bandaidctrl]

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
I think it's fairly common to refer to presidents by their last name... Bush, Reagan, Clinton, Carter... .

thats all nothing to do with being rude.
nothing here move along.

Originally posted by SLAYER69

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
I think it's fairly common to refer to presidents by their last name... Bush, Reagan, Clinton, Carter... .

thats all nothing to do with being rude.
nothing here move along.

nothing here? move along?

is it up to you to determine that?
i learned something from this thread. it might not have been much or of consequence; but it was something all the same.

reply to post by ll__raine__ll


thanks

Originally posted by robotically
reply to post by darkelf

 

Yes, I would much rather be referred to by my first name and not my last. I just think maybe Mr. Obama would prefer it that way as well, out of respect, because he is not just another Clinton or Bush right? He is better than that and we should place him above the stereotype. I'm not trying to be righteous or anything it just seems like the way it should be. We should be proud to say Barack Obama as we still refer to the late great John F. Kennedy. Maybe he has to earn that entitlement?

More than 1 president has had the same first name so if I say George how does the other person know if I'm talking about Washington or Bush? Or better yet we had Franklin D. Roosevelt & Franklin Pierce.

Now I hope we are smart enough to differentiate between who we are talking about but sadly we do have some pretty not so smart people in our country.

John F. Kennedy I believe was because there are always tons of Kennedy's in the news and politics over here. Kennedy is a pretty common name I work with one that has no relation to the famous ones.

After the last eight years and all the things that Bush was called, I find this to be a little strange.

Eisenhower was referred to as Ike.

John F. Kennedy was referred to as JFK.

Johnson was called LBJ.

There was Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and Bush, who was also referred to as Bushy, Shrub, and a host of other terms that would get one banned from this site.