and similar terms have been applied by commentators to the journalese practice (probably made popular by, if not invented by, Time Magazine), of using a string of descriptive terms in front of a person’s name to identify him or her: mother-of-the-bride Mary Jones, schoolboard-member Sam Pickering; bearded actor, flower-salesman, and erstwhile end Merlin Olson. Such appositives, placed before instead of after their referents, can be tiresome.
