Rich wrote: << Thane contributes: << By Jennifer 8. Lee ... [Jennifer 8 Lee is no typo. That's her middle name: "8"]
Clearly, 8 is her middle initial. Her middle name could be 88 or 8765 or even 8tricia.
Or 8rocious. Because she wrote an incredibly stupid article recently (about how there's a new trend: hetero males getting together in a group of two in order to socialize!!!!!), I looked up some stuff about her, and she explains her adopting the 8. to distinguish herself from the many other Jennifer Lees. (And 8 because her background is Chinese and, she says, 8 is a very lucky number in Chinese culture.) So what do you call an "initial" that doesn't stand for anything? (Btw, such were once quite common in U.S. male given names.) --Dan