Ampersand

[magid]

Some couples are always X & Y. Other couples are always Y & X. And some are ambidextrous, as it were. I keep wondering why that is. Who you know first? Who you know better? (Who you're related to?) Shorter name (in syllables) first? Is it partly situational? The one with a title first? Or just an elusively-defined "it sounds better that way"? (For bi-gender couples: Always man first? Always woman first?)

Comments

[queue.livejournal.com]

I think part of the "it sounds better that way" is that pattern of stresses. Since "and" is unstressed, if a couple has one person with a one-syllable name and one person with a two-syllable name, it's likely going to sound better to have the one-syllable name first so that the pattern is stressed-unstressed-stressed-unstressed.

Also, I wonder if one person being part of a lot of couples and another person not would affect things. Say A is with B, C, and D. You would be more likely (other factors excluded) to say A&B, A&C, A&D, I think.

[treacle-well.livejournal.com]

For me I think it's usually either who I knew first or cadence. Sometimes it's who I'm speaking to (perhaps based on who they know better) about X & Y. I'd like to claim it's alphabetical, because that amuses me, but it's just not true.

[jaq.livejournal.com]

I've assumed that it was down to who I knew better or first. Don't know if that is true though.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

If both names have the same number of syllables, it's arbitrary who I put first. As others have said, though, I also sometimes put the member of the couple that I've known longer first. Also, I frequently just refer to married couples by their last name ("I have to call the Smiths"; "I ran into the Joneses at the supermarket") for simplicity.

[bitty.livejournal.com]

WE ARE THE RAMKOSCH.

[cellio]

I think it's mostly "what sounds better", which comes down to cadence a lot of the time. I think when it sounds about the same either way I usually list the person I've known longer first, unless we're having a conversation that's focused on the other. (But if that happens, the names have already been introduced and "they" is probably appropriate.)

Thare are some couples where I'm equally likely to say the names in either order, but most of the time I think a particular ordering becomes part of the storage record, so even if "Bob and Mike" and "Mike and Bob" work equally well, I'll end up settling on one.

In thinking about it, the name with the smaller number of stresses -- which might not have the smaller number of syllables -- goes first.