Posted by dorayme on 05/24/07 22:05

In article <Xns9939EFE23AF09nanopandaneredbojias@208.49.80.251>,
Neredbojias <neredbojias@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Tue, 22 May 2007 21:18:04 GMT dorayme scribed:
>
> > In article <Xns993879DEAB4F8nanopandaneredbojias@208.49.80.251>,
> > Neredbojias <neredbojias@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Please don't so publicly capitalise
> >> > my name, it is a small "d".
> >>
> >> The only reason I did so was because it was part of a title and the
> >> first word to boot, so any word would have been therein capitalized.
> >>
> >
> > This is a bad reason. A name is not a word like the ones everyone
> > learns in order to speak.
>
> Then what word is it like? _Any_ word follows those rules, be it proper
> noun or anything else. Xhtml doesn't apply to English grammar.
>

Since a name is not that much like other words, it is odd to ask
what word is it like. Think how the normal rules about
capitalisation do not apply with names when they are used within
sentences (as contrasted with starting them). They mostly remain
capitalised! In other words, names are special, not like most
other words like "cat", "some", "you", "it". So your stated
objection to treat them like other words for the purpose of
starting sentences looks to me like very special pleading.

If really pressed to say what a name is like, I suppose I might
say, at least, that a good name is like a good work of art,
complete in itself in every detail, the changing of anything
necessarily detracting from its splenour.

> > Take this sentence:
> >
> > "george kelly is the name of my cat and in every sentence I write
> > about him, I always spell his name in lower case."
> >
> > It would be wrong to begin this sentence with a capital if truth
> > was what you were concerned to preserve.
>
> The truth of what? -Someone's illogical whimsy?
>
You misunderstand. I simply mean the truth of the sentence, no
more and no less. Nothing to do with whimsy in respect to the
truth of this, old chap. Whimsy may have played a role in the
formation of the name itself but not in the statement above.

> > This shows your general procedure is flawed. I will ask you once
> > again, show some respect, and do not spell my name with a
> > capital. Officer White is on standby (he is looking mighty
> > restless).
>
> Hey, I'm willing to go along with your small-letter psychosis under
> normal conditions, but when the pseudonym in question appears at the
> beginning of a sentence, it _will be_ capitalized by anyone with a normal
> grasp of language usage. I believe you will find this to be the majority
> opinion, and if it upsets you, learn to regulate your disposition better.
>

There is no need to get hot under the collar there Boji!
Remember, it is my name you are trampling with, it is not that
much to ask that you desist from ever using a capital when
spelling it. Don't worry, I have told Officer White not to be too
hard on you. It is not the end of the world.

> >> > But never mind, you show some talent there, Boji.
> >>
> >
> >> Really?
> >
> > What? You want that I should stroke your ego some more?
>
> No, I was expressing surprise, not vanity.
>

Surprise? You are going about the world thinking you are
talentless and everyone else knows it. O dear! There there, old
chap, don't be so hard on yourself. I'll send Officer White's mum
around to see you, she will make some nice chicken soup for you
and put some flowers about and cheer you up.

--
dorayme

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