Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
If you have an email ending in @hotmail.com, @live.com or @outlook.com (or any other Microsoft-related domain), please consider changing it to another email provider; Microsoft decided to instantly block the server's IP, so emails can't be sent to these addresses.
If you use an @yahoo.com email or any related Yahoo services, they have blocked us also due to "user complaints"
-UE
If you use an @yahoo.com email or any related Yahoo services, they have blocked us also due to "user complaints"
-UE
Any source insisting that "internet" is a proper noun
No, it isn't. The term "internet" just happens to refer to a unique thing. It requires no capitalization.
Comments
Apparently "intranet" also requires capitalization, which makes even less sense.
I wonder if these two terms are trademarked.
It is perhaps in the strictest sense.
But honestly, that's really pedantic. I can see it being used for things like Arpanet, but the internet is so massive it just doesn't make any sense to refer to it as one thing, even if it technically is one.
http://internetisapropernoun.net/
That is the dumbest website I have ever seen. And I've been to Encyclopedia Dramatica.
Depends. If I'm referring to the planet as a proper entity, yes. But not when I am referring to say, earth we live on top of.
They refer to two different things.
This supports INUH's view as well.
Oi.
Okay, sure. Whatever you say.
I really don't feel like arguing about this to be honest. It just bothers me that Opera expects me to capitalize it every time I use it.
This webpage says what I think about it.
But seriously, of it bugs you that much, there should be a way to fiddle with the spellcheck and auto correct things.
I actually just did, I tend to forget about the "add to dictionary" thing.
It does it with other words too. Is "teleport" also supposed to be capitalized or something?
"teleport"
Yeah it doesn't even suggest "Teleport" as an alternative. Telephoto is in there despite the fact that I'm pretty sure that's not really a thing (ditto "teleprinter"), so is both "teleprompter" and "TelePrompter".
But no variation of "teleport".
This brings up a related point.
When I make outlines and take notes, I use all lowercase except for proper nouns and abbreviations that normally use uppercase. The reason is that it feels as if I'm giving undue attention and weight to something by capitalizing it just because it happens to be at the beginning of a line (which might not even be a complete sentence. For example, take the following list:
This makes it look like plot is more important than characterization, which is (almost always) not the case when I write up a list like this. Furthermore, it makes it look like characterization is the least important of these five things, and is a mere sub-item of plot.
Instead, how about this:
Now, true, I could instead do this:
I'd totally do this if I really needed to be formal, or if these were section headers (especially if I have to use the same font and font size as the text). Otherwise, I think the bullet points make the distinction between these items clear enough.
Oh by the way, the argument that "internet" should be capitalized because it refers to a unique thing holds less weight than you might think. People don't capitalize "inner core", "outer core", "troposphere", or "stratosphere".
Alternatively, going by what that last article says:
...it seems that we capitalize those unique things that we respect and don't take for granted. We take for granted the White House less than we take for granted the mantle and the atmosphere.
Also, it seems that adding "the" to stuff makes it sound less like a name and more like a common noun, which further encourages noncapitalization.
glenn
can you like... provide a tl;dr version
Am I the only one who thinks that Glenn really doesn't make posts that are that long.
Yes.
Because when I tried to categorize tropes on work pages, I discovered that characterization, and thus character development, is very often tightly intertwined with plot.
So let's say one character who is on the side of the bad guys gradually, over the course of the story, comes to realize the error of her ways and then joins the good guys near the end, and this is a big part of the story.
Would you list this instance of HeelFaceTurn under characterization or under plot?
goddammit INUH
I would actually list it under both, as it drives both. It affects the characterization of the character, and it also affects the plot.
I prefer "Mu".
"I un-ask your question"
the ",bitch" at the end is only implied.
If I'm using it in an attributive sense, I don't capitalise it; if I'm talking about the thing itself, I do. That said, I'm not pedantic enough to tell people todo it my way, so whatever.
After a while, I caught on that it's technically supposed to be capitalized, but I don't really make a big deal out of how other people do it, either.
I think I use the two interchangeably.