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Reverend
Nouns, for Heaven's Sake!
By Evan Jenkins
An actress’s obituary said she had once played “the conflicted daughter of a Bible-wielding reverend.” Maybe the writer and editor were having fun; if so, the signals weren’t clear. And they have to be. “Reverend,” as a noun meaning a member of the clergy, is colloquial at best, and used with a straight face borders on the illiterate. Some dictionaries include the noun definition, some without even a frown, and the forces of darkness may be gaining, as in the sub-headline that spoke of “remarks ... made by the reverend.” But the word is an adjective, an honorific that properly takes “the” — “the Reverend John Smith,” or more usually in journalism, “the Rev.” with the full name. Common nouns for such people include priest, rabbi, minister, preacher, clergyman or clergywoman, imam, pastor, and so on. In any case, let’s stick to nouns. “Reverend” isn’t part of that flock.
Addendum, Jan. 19, 2000
The spirit moved Bob Pounds, a public affairs officer at the Australian Department of Veterans’ Affairs in Canberra, to send along these thoughts (he’s sure there’s also a six-line version) on matters clerical:
Call me Brother if you will,
Pastor, Teacher, better still,
Minister, clergyman, counselor, friend.
Just never call me Reverend.
Amen.
CJR
