Quick question when doing a toast to the president of Taiwan is it:
1) To His Excellency the President of Taiwan — with the response being; To His Excellency
2) To the President of Taiwan — with response being; To the President
My instincts say number one but there is a debate. I have a copy of your book but don’t see a form for this.
— D.C. in Colorado Springs
Dear D.C.,
I would use #1 … and thus toast the person rather than the office. Regarding #1, His/Her Excellency always precedes a full name, then, list the office:
His Excellency (Full Name), The President of Taiwan
It is “he” who is excellent … not the job.
And the end of the toast could absolutely be:
To His Excellency
I have two forms for a visiting head of state … the second form uses Excellency.See page 408 in the book in the Chapter on International Officials. Note that I include in there a reference to (Personal Honorific If Presented): Many internationals include a honorific in there before their name such as Dr. or Professor. In the USA we don’t include an honorific when we use a courtesy title, but if your visitor does, you should include it.
– Robert Hickey www.formsofaddress.info
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