Trivia Q&A.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Byline: Tina Beaumont-Clay

Q: I read recently that when writing a husband and wife's names together, the husband's name should not be separated from his last name _ for example, Mary and John Doe. But in a recent Fort Worth Star-Telegram article, a headline said, "Marcus and Joni Lamb." Which is correct? _B.H., Fort Worth

A: I checked our archives and confirmed your observation: When the Star-Telegram refers to the Christian broadcasting couple, it is with his name first. I also confirmed a suspicion of my own: that the Star-Telegram news copy desk, the place where such headlines are born, is detail- rather than etiquette-driven.

Don't get me wrong; these people are nothing if not obsessive about the finer points of language, and you don't want to get into an argument with them about the minutia of grammar. Miss Manners, however, would probably have to produce two kinds of I.D. and serve tea to drive home this point and make it stick.

And so the reasoning behind "Marcus and Joni" as opposed to "Joni and Marcus" may be as simple as "Doesn't it sound better that way?" Never too busy to debate language oddities, the copy desk offered as an additional exhibit for the defense the fact that most of our mail arrives addressed that way (John and Jane Doe). Also, the couple refer to themselves as "Marcus and Joni."

Nevertheless, according to my search, the etiquette sources prefer "Joni and Marcus Lamb" without exception.

My copy desk friends, however, ...