Posted by Chris F.A. Johnson on 05/26/07 07:18

On 2007-05-24, dorayme wrote:
> 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,

That _is_ the point. In the English language, names are capitalized.

That's why e.e.cummings's business failed: it was under
capitalized!

> 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.

Words that start a sentence _are_ capitalized, whether they are
names or not.

> 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,

That is a signature, not merely a name.


--
Chris F.A. Johnson <http://cfaj.freeshell.org>
===================================================================
Author:
Shell Scripting Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach (2005, Apress)

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