First Son or first son

Question

At 3:14, an anchorwoman says:"And Barron is the First Son in the White House since John F. K Jr."Is it correct to capitalize "First Son"?Also, the First Son (or first son) refers to the son of the First Family. Since she was talking about "since John F. K Jr.", shouldn't it be "the first First son....since"?

Rover_KE · Accepted Answer

Yes and yes.

Listenever · Answer

Thanks.

Got another question at 2:03, where a reporter says these three clauses in a row:
(1) but the 1990s beginning with a contentious divorce from Ivana
(2) he wed actress Marla Maples in 1993
(3) the couple later welcoming daughter Tiffany

I was wondering how I should treat these clauses.

If this weren't a news report, I would have written these clauses as a single sentence with the second clause as the main one, as follows:
But the 1990s beginning with a contentious divorce from Ivana, he wed actress Marla Maples in 1993, the couple later welcoming daughter Tiffany.

However, given this is a news report, I wonder if the above construction reflects what the reporter actually says.

Rover_KE · Answer

I agree with the way you wrote it.

That was probably written on the autocue that the reporter was reading from, but she didn't phrase it very well.

Listenever · Answer

In a news report, it's fairly common, I think, to use the-ing form instead of the past tense form, even in an independent clause. At least, that's what I've been noticing.

So, I was wondering if you could treat the first and/or third clauses as independent clauses or even separate sentences.

For example, could the reporter have meant to say this?
But the 1990s beginning with a contentious divorce from Ivana. He wed actress Marla Maples in 1993. The couple later welcoming daughter Tiff.

Or this?
But the 1990s beginning with a contentious divorce from Ivana. He wed actress Marla Maples in 1993, the couple later welcoming daughter Tiff.

Rover_KE · Answer

listeneverFor example, could the reporter have meant to say this?But the 1990s beginning with a contentious divorce from Ivana. He wed actress Marla Maples in 1993. The couple later welcoming daughter Tiff.

No. Only the second is a grammatical sentence.

The others lack a finite verb.

Listenever · Answer

Rover_KEThe others lack a finite verb.

As I said in the previous post, news reports sometimes tend to lack a finite verb even in a separate sentence. In this particular video, there are numerous instances of such lack of finite verbs, as in the second sentence starting at 1 second into the video:
Donald Trump pulling off a big win this morning or last night.

Here, a non-finite verb pulling was used instead of a corresponding finite verb pulled.

So, somehow you're saying that those first and third clauses in the OP shouldn't be separate sentences having a non-finite verbs. But how would you distinguish them from other instances of such lacking finite verbs as shown in the above sentence?

First Son or first son

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