Contrary to popular belief, a person’s name given to a place – or a prize, a trophy, etc. – requires a hyphen even if the person in question is still alive.
The hyphen between the first name and the last name only indicates that we do not designate the person himself. It has nothing to do with being already dead or still alive. We therefore correctly write the Diane-Dufresne Art Center (the hyphen appears in the documentation, even if it is not on the front of the center), the Annie-Pelletier swimming pool or the Jean-Coutu pavilion at the University of Montreal.
“If the name of a person is used to denote an association, a foundation, a building, a monument, an establishment or a place, a hyphen is placed between the first names and between the first name (s) and the patronymic, whether or not this person is deceased, ”indicates the linguistic bank of the Office québécois de la langue française.
“It is wrong to believe that the name […] of a place honoring a living person does not take the hyphen, whereas the name takes the hyphen if the honored person is deceased, ”also points out the Government of Canada’s Editorial Keys tool.
There is still a difference between the living and the dead.
We are free to give the names of living people to private establishments. But since 1990, to avoid problems and subsequent changes, the Commission de toponymie du Canada and the Commission de toponymie du Québec have not used “the name of a person to designate a means of communication (street, avenue, etc.) or a place only if the person in question has been dead for at least one year. One should not use the name of a living person, unless there are very special circumstances ”.
Despite the above about the hyphen, we respect exceptions, for example by writing Maison Jean Lapointe.
Action of grace
Can you explain to me why we see everywhere Action of grace without s To Grace, when I learned that he must be there, like when we say thanksgiving at the end of the meal?
Reply
There are two possible spellings for Thanksgiving, celebrated here on the second Monday in October. Always with a capital letter at Action, but with Grace singular or plural. For the sake of uniformity, Press, we adopted the simplest spelling, in the singular. We can also write give thanks (Where thanks).
For the United States, which celebrates the same holiday on the fourth Thursday in November, we have the choice of leaving Thanksgiving (without article in front of the name) in the texts, putting it in italics, or write theAmerican Thanksgiving.
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