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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Atheists writing 'God' as 'god'
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
Why do atheists so often insist on writing "God" with a little g? To show they don't believe in the existence of God? English doesn't use orthography to denote ontology. I don't believe there was ever a person named Ozymandias, but in Shelley's poem it's a proper noun, so I capitalize it.
If you are using "God" (or any other word) as a proper noun, you capitalize it; if you are using it as a common noun, you don't. Period. It has nothing to do with what you believe.
Common noun: There's no way any loving god could have created the human knee.
Proper noun: Look, if God is good and created the world, why is the world so fucked up?
Neither of these commit the speaker (writer) to believing anything about the existence of any deities.
Atheists refusing to capitalize "God" when it's being used as a proper noun aren't guilty of sinning against manners, or (God forbid) God, but against the normal rules of English orthography, which help us to understand what others are saying without (usually) having to go back and read again and make mental adjustments for their inability to write properly (let alone bloodymindedness).
Personally I think it's just petty-minded spite, at about the level of a four-year-old.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
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Net Spinster
Shipmate
# 16058
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Posted
I suspect because most atheists are still leaving their old beliefs and forget to put an article or something else to make it a common noun or they are overreacting to the custom of capitalizing even the pronouns when referring to the Christian god.
"Look, if your god is good and created the world, why is the world so fucked up?"
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spinner of webs
Posts: 1093 | From: San Francisco Bay area | Registered: Dec 2010
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ChastMastr
Shipmate
# 716
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
Personally I think it's just petty-minded spite, at about the level of a four-year-old.
Some of them, yes. Generally these are the aggressive, crusading anti-theist sort who are kind of like evangelists for the absence of God. Happily I know some quite nice atheists who aren't like that. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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My essays on comics continuity: http://chastmastr.tumblr.com/tagged/continuity
Posts: 14068 | From: Clearwater, Florida | Registered: Jul 2001
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Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081
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Posted
I think the capitalisation can, these days, be viewed by some as an attempt to impose the supremacy of the Christian God above all other gods - through spelling (however gramatically correct it may be).
If Christians* can't win a debate on this issue without insisting on capitalisation for the word God (absent in the languages of Scripture as I understand it), the substance of their arguments can't be much good.
*a word I tend to spell with a small 'c' these days for similar reasons...
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Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy
Posts: 17944 | From: 528491 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Byron
Shipmate
# 15532
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Posted
Well said, mousethief, this is a pet peeve of mine also.
In interests of fairness, I'm equally irritated by believers who insist on capitalizing every reference to the Christian god, even when used as a common noun.
"I address my god simply as God." Sorted.
Next up, jamming an apostrophe into a possessive pronoun ... ![[brick wall]](graemlins/brick_wall.gif)
Posts: 1112 | Registered: Mar 2010
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ChastMastr
Shipmate
# 716
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Posted
I pretty much don't capitalize "god" when referring to a god, and capitalize it when referring to God as a proper noun (not limited to Christianity, but also Judaism, Islam, deism, etc.).
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My essays on comics continuity: http://chastmastr.tumblr.com/tagged/continuity
Posts: 14068 | From: Clearwater, Florida | Registered: Jul 2001
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Sipech
Shipmate
# 16870
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Posted
It can be used in a petty way, but it doesn't really bother me. If it is something that bothers you, then I would avoid reading any works of that well known atheist, N.T. Wright. ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
The interesting one is whether or not to capitalise atheist/Atheist. I know some who do because it is consistent with capitalising Christian/Jew/Muslim/Catholic/Mormon and that to not capitalise it implies that they have some kind of lesser status.
Others react quite angrily against it, positing that capitalisation is used for faith groups and that they absolutely don't want their system of (non) belief to be put into the same basket as anyone else.
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I try to be self-deprecating; I'm just not very good at it.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheAlethiophile
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Jane R
Shipmate
# 331
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Posted
As I understand it, the poem was inspired by the sight of a fallen statue of Rameses II, who was also referred to as Ozymandias in antiquity. Champollion published the first translation of the Rosetta Stone in 1822, the same year Shelley died, so at the time the poem was written nobody knew how to translate hieroglyphics.
[ 23. July 2014, 08:22: Message edited by: Jane R ]
Posts: 3958 | From: Jorvik | Registered: May 2001
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Yorick
Infinite Jester
# 12169
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Posted
Out of common courtesy and a willingness to engage seriously with people of faith, I always capitalise God (and even Him, etc.) when referring to their ridiculous invisible friend(s).
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این نیز بگذرد
Posts: 7574 | From: Natural Sources | Registered: Dec 2006
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Liopleurodon
Mighty sea creature
# 4836
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Posted
I guess it's awkward because God is both a name and a category of things (Greek gods, etc) which is very unusual. So it's not like other proper nouns in that sense. I suppose there are others like this - Parliament to mean the UK institution and the people it currently consists of, and parliament as a system of government. I guess the lower case thing with "god" probably springs from that common atheist argument that atheists simply believe in one fewer god than theists do but neither believes in Zeus, Odin, etc. It's trying to bring into focus the idea that the God of Christianity and other monotheistic religions is in the same category as the gods of ancient Rome etc. It's still pretty dickish and condescending but that's probably the intention.
Posts: 1921 | From: Lurking under the ship | Registered: Aug 2003
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ChastMastr
Shipmate
# 716
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Posted
I don't capitalize atheist or theist because those are basically descriptive nouns--but if someone wanted to call themselves a Dawkinsist or something, then of course I would capitalize that (proper name again).
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My essays on comics continuity: http://chastmastr.tumblr.com/tagged/continuity
Posts: 14068 | From: Clearwater, Florida | Registered: Jul 2001
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
I capitalise God when writing about the one I believe in, do not when referring to any mythological personage, and also do not when engaging in argument with people who claim to follow the one but endue their deity with what I consider to be non-worshipful characteristics. Maybe that is petty, but it makes it clearer that I am not savaging God.
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
I wish we could get rid of this idea that capitalizing things is a way of showing honor. My old publishing house operated on that principle, which made for some very odd choices occasionally.
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Robert Armin
All licens'd fool
# 182
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Posted
I've known Christians who always write Satan as satan, to avoid giving the devil his due.
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Keeping fit was an obsession with Fr Moity .... He did chin ups in the vestry, calisthenics in the pulpit, and had developed a series of Tai-Chi exercises to correspond with ritual movements of the Mass. The Antipope Robert Rankin
Posts: 8927 | From: In the pack | Registered: May 2001
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Callan
Shipmate
# 525
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Posted
Herbert McCabe tended to capitalise God, when speaking of the Almighty and refer to the gods when speaking of false or non-existent gods. By analogy, I can't get offended if Atheists do the same thing in controversy. They are, after all, making a broadly similar point.
I wouldn't, on the other hand, have much respect for an Atheist who wrote about 'jesus' or, indeed, a Christian or Jew or who insisted on 'baal' or 'astarte' unless they happened to be bell hooks or e. e. cummings. But none of this ought to rank highly on any list of stuff to get indignant about.
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How easy it would be to live in England, if only one did not love her. - G.K. Chesterton
Posts: 9757 | From: Citizen of the World | Registered: Jun 2001
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Adeodatus
Shipmate
# 4992
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Posted
perhaps we should remember that much communication of fashionable memes happens in social media where punctuation grammar and spelling are fluid at best and more often absent altogether innit
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"What is broken, repair with gold."
Posts: 9779 | From: Manchester | Registered: Sep 2003
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daronmedway
Shipmate
# 3012
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Posted
Maybe they do it in order to emphasise their conviction that they reject the very idea or notion of god and therefore see no reason to refer to the person of God by use of a proper noun.
Posts: 6976 | From: Southampton | Registered: Jul 2002
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Mudfrog
Shipmate
# 8116
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Posted
The Bible capitalises God and refers to gods too.
I don't see the problem.
[ 23. July 2014, 13:04: Message edited by: Mudfrog ]
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"The point of having an open mind, like having an open mouth, is to close it on something solid."
G.K. Chesterton
Posts: 8237 | From: North Yorkshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2004
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Adeodatus
Shipmate
# 4992
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Mudfrog:
The Bible capitalises God and refers to gods too.
I don't see the problem.
Please tell me you're joking.
You are, aren't you?
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"What is broken, repair with gold."
Posts: 9779 | From: Manchester | Registered: Sep 2003
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IngoB
Sentire cum Ecclesia
# 8700
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gildas:
Herbert McCabe tended to capitalise God, when speaking of the Almighty and refer to the gods when speaking of false or non-existent gods. By analogy, I can't get offended if Atheists do the same thing in controversy. They are, after all, making a broadly similar point.
To be honest, I thought that was the done thing, and I have never even considered this in terms of the common / proper noun distinction before. And yes, consequently I was never particularly upset by atheists writing "god" for the Christian God. If I was an atheist, I would have done the same thing (according to this convention). Of course, in order for this to make the sense, the convention has to be widely accepted. I really thought it was. If it isn't, then I'll have to reconsider.
quote:
Originally posted by Gildas:
I wouldn't, on the other hand, have much respect for an Atheist who wrote about 'jesus' or, indeed, a Christian or Jew or who insisted on 'baal' or 'astarte' unless they happened to be bell hooks or e. e. cummings. But none of this ought to rank highly on any list of stuff to get indignant about.
Indeed.
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They’ll have me whipp’d for speaking true; thou’lt have me whipp’d for lying; and sometimes I am whipp’d for holding my peace. - The Fool in King Lear
Posts: 12010 | From: Gone fishing | Registered: Oct 2004
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Siegfried
Ship's ferret
# 29
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Posted
The rules of written English say that one capitalizes proper nouns. As Christianity names it's god "God", that makes "God", in that context, a proper noun. In the end, it's all grammar.
This makes me wonder--do the same atheists use "allah", "zeus", "buddha" when speaking of other gods they don't believe in?
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Siegfried
Life is just a bowl of cherries!
Posts: 5592 | From: Tallahassee, FL USA | Registered: May 2001
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LeRoc
Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216
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Posted
Do they use "harry potter"?
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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)
Posts: 9474 | From: Brazil / Africa | Registered: Aug 2002
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Marvin the Martian
Interplanetary
# 4360
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Siegfried:
As Christianity names it's god "God"
Does it? I always thought God's name was Jehova/YHWH.
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Hail Gallaxhar
Posts: 30100 | From: Adrift on a sea of surreality | Registered: Apr 2003
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Pomona
Shipmate
# 17175
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Posted
I've honestly never noticed this being a particularly atheist thing - plenty of non-atheists talk about 'god' too, it's more of an internet grammar thing than an atheism thing.
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Consider the work of God: Who is able to straighten what he has bent? [Ecclesiastes 7:13]
Posts: 5319 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2012
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Mudfrog
Shipmate
# 8116
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Adeodatus:
quote:
Originally posted by Mudfrog:
The Bible capitalises God and refers to gods too.
I don't see the problem.
Please tell me you're joking.
You are, aren't you?
From Psalm 81:
quote:
8 Hear me, my people, and I will warn you—
if you would only listen to me, Israel!
9 You shall have no foreign god among you;
you shall not worship any god other than me.
10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up out of Egypt.
As I said, I don't see the problem.
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"The point of having an open mind, like having an open mouth, is to close it on something solid."
G.K. Chesterton
Posts: 8237 | From: North Yorkshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2004
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Sipech
Shipmate
# 16870
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Posted
Which translation are you using Mudfrog?
Who was the typesetter?
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I try to be self-deprecating; I'm just not very good at it.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheAlethiophile
Posts: 3791 | From: On the corporate ladder | Registered: Jan 2012
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gildas:
But none of this ought to rank highly on any list of stuff to get indignant about.
True, but if we only complained about the big stuff, the ship would be eerily quiet.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
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Adeodatus
Shipmate
# 4992
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Mudfrog:
As I said, I don't see the problem.
The problem is that neither OT Hebrew nor NT Greek differentiates upper and lower case. It's a later invention.
(Which means that when you look at, say Codex Sinaiticus and see that it's all uppercase, it doesn't mean that God is shouting.)
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"What is broken, repair with gold."
Posts: 9779 | From: Manchester | Registered: Sep 2003
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Mudfrog
Shipmate
# 8116
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by TheAlethiophile:
Which translation are you using Mudfrog?
Who was the typesetter?
It was the NIV.
So, how about this from the New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition
quote:
Hear, O my people, while I admonish you;
O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9 There shall be no strange god among you;
you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
Or this, from the Revised Standard Version:
quote:
Hear, O my people, while I admonish you!
O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9 There shall be no strange god among you;
you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
Or the American Standard Version:
quote:
8 Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wouldest hearken unto me!
9 There shall no strange god be in thee; Neither shalt thou worship any foreign god.
10 I am Jehovah thy God, Who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt
Or the King James:
quote:
8 Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me;
9 There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.
10 I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt
The Complete Jewish Bible:
quote:
(8) “‘Hear, my people, while I give you warning!
Isra’el, if you would only listen to me!
10 (9) There is not to be with you any foreign god;
you are not to worship an alien god.
11 (10) I am Adonai your God,
who brought you up from the land of Egypt.
And finally, the New English Translation:
quote:
I said, ‘Listen, my people!
I will warn you!
O Israel, if only you would obey me!
9 There must be no other god among you.
You must not worship a foreign god.
10 I am the Lord, your God,
the one who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Still not seeing a problem here guys...
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"The point of having an open mind, like having an open mouth, is to close it on something solid."
G.K. Chesterton
Posts: 8237 | From: North Yorkshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2004
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Adeodatus:
quote:
Originally posted by Mudfrog:
As I said, I don't see the problem.
The problem is that neither OT Hebrew nor NT Greek differentiates upper and lower case. It's a later invention.
Yes, but when we use it in English, we use it according to the conventions of English usage. Which says we capitalize proper nouns and don't capitalize common nouns. As Mudfrog's examples clearly show.
You might as well argue that we shouldn't use punctuation or capital letters at all, or spaces between words, or consistent spelling, because that's a newfangled invention.
[ 23. July 2014, 15:21: Message edited by: mousethief ]
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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Mudfrog
Shipmate
# 8116
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
quote:
Originally posted by Adeodatus:
quote:
Originally posted by Mudfrog:
As I said, I don't see the problem.
The problem is that neither OT Hebrew nor NT Greek differentiates upper and lower case. It's a later invention.
Yes, but when we use it in English, we use it according to the conventions of English usage. Which says we capitalize proper nouns and don't capitalize common nouns. As Mudfrog's examples clearly show.
You might as well argue that we shouldn't use punctuation or capital letters at all, or spaces between words, or consistent spelling, because that's a newfangled invention.
Indeed, and the fact that all translations do this with god/God rather suggests that it's agreed right across the theological spectrum. Had it been just the Message that did it, I would be suspicious, but it's not, so...
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"The point of having an open mind, like having an open mouth, is to close it on something solid."
G.K. Chesterton
Posts: 8237 | From: North Yorkshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2004
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Adeodatus
Shipmate
# 4992
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
You might as well argue that we shouldn't use punctuation or capital letters at all, or spaces between words, or consistent spelling, because that's a newfangled invention.
It would be an interesting exercise.
My point was just that Mudfrog's initial comment read like the old joke "If the King James version was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me."
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"What is broken, repair with gold."
Posts: 9779 | From: Manchester | Registered: Sep 2003
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Mudfrog
Shipmate
# 8116
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Adeodatus:
My point was just that Mudfrog's initial comment read like the old joke "If the King James version was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me."
No, I referenced the Bible because thus far no one had done so - it was all about personal preference and even new internet grammar that was assumed to be the cause.
I was simply trying to show that it's got a precedent in an elevated place.
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"The point of having an open mind, like having an open mouth, is to close it on something solid."
G.K. Chesterton
Posts: 8237 | From: North Yorkshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2004
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IngoB
Sentire cum Ecclesia
# 8700
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
Yes, but when we use it in English, we use it according to the conventions of English usage. Which says we capitalize proper nouns and don't capitalize common nouns. As Mudfrog's examples clearly show.
Now you are confusing the heck our of me. I would have said that Mudfrog's examples show McCabe's honour convention (it's "God" for the Jewish/Christian god, but "god" for all other gods).
In "I am the Lord your God", the word "Lord" is indeed a kind of proper noun, but I would say that "God" there is a common noun. To me that has the structure:
"I am the <name/title> your <kind of thing>"
For example
"I am the Reverend Jones your new pastor"
But I've never been good at grammar, so I could be mistaken here...
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They’ll have me whipp’d for speaking true; thou’lt have me whipp’d for lying; and sometimes I am whipp’d for holding my peace. - The Fool in King Lear
Posts: 12010 | From: Gone fishing | Registered: Oct 2004
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Gwai
Shipmate
# 11076
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
Yes, but when we use it in English, we use it according to the conventions of English usage. Which says we capitalize proper nouns and don't capitalize common nouns. As Mudfrog's examples clearly show.
Now you are confusing the heck our of me. I would have said that Mudfrog's examples show McCabe's honour convention (it's "God" for the Jewish/Christian god, but "god" for all other gods).
I'd say we don't have evidence either way in what Mudfrog quoted re the honor convention. Unless I've missed it, nowhere is another being mentioned, particularly not one whom other people think divine. To me that would be the question. We see "foreign gods" but those are general gods. One could logically say "They worship foreign gods like Baal and SomeoneElse." And that of course would not follow the honor convention. Compare to the convention in English that allows sentences like, "There were five other dads there besides Dad."
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A master of men was the Goodly Fere,
A mate of the wind and sea.
If they think they ha’ slain our Goodly Fere
They are fools eternally.
Posts: 11914 | From: Chicago | Registered: Feb 2006
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Higgs Bosun
Shipmate
# 16582
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Mudfrog:
[No, I referenced the Bible because thus far no one had done so - it was all about personal preference and even new internet grammar that was assumed to be the cause.
I was simply trying to show that it's got a precedent in an elevated place.
I think you need to distinguish between "The Bible", which is a collection of ancient texts, and how some collection of translations of these texts have been presented in printed form. As has been pointed out, these are typographic conventions, not inherent in the text itself.
In a German Bible, if I recall my O level German correctly, every noun is capitalized. When I look up Psalm 81 in a German translation on BibleGateway, that is precisely what I find, e.g. for v10 (which seems to correspond to v9 in the English, but then verse numbers are also not actually part of the Biblical text):
quote:
Kein anderer Gott soll bei dir sein,
und einen fremden Gott bete nicht an!
Posts: 313 | From: Near the Tidal Thames | Registered: Aug 2011
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IngoB
Sentire cum Ecclesia
# 8700
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Posted
But you would say "I will go to my dad" not "I will go to my Dad," right? So how about John 20:17: "Jesus said to her, "Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."
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They’ll have me whipp’d for speaking true; thou’lt have me whipp’d for lying; and sometimes I am whipp’d for holding my peace. - The Fool in King Lear
Posts: 12010 | From: Gone fishing | Registered: Oct 2004
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
Yes, but when we use it in English, we use it according to the conventions of English usage. Which says we capitalize proper nouns and don't capitalize common nouns. As Mudfrog's examples clearly show.
Now you are confusing the heck our of me. I would have said that Mudfrog's examples show McCabe's honour convention (it's "God" for the Jewish/Christian god, but "god" for all other gods).
Is it using it for other gods as a proper noun? Is it using it for the Hebrew God as a common noun? Actually I think in his examples, the two distinctions perfectly overlap.
I'd be (mildly) interested to know which of the uses are el/elim and which are Elohim.
quote:
Originally posted by Higgs Bosun:
In a German Bible, if I recall my O level German correctly, every noun is capitalized.
True, but not just in a German Bible. In any German writings, I believe, all nouns are capitalized. Which has nowt to do with capitalization conventions in English.
Gwai's dad/Dad example is an excellent example of the principle I mean.
[ 23. July 2014, 16:36: Message edited by: mousethief ]
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
One doesn't need to respect an idea to engage in respectful conversation. Capitalising doesn't confer agreement.
On the flip side, failing to is far from the worst thing that can happen.
quote:
Originally posted by Siegfried:
This makes me wonder--do the same atheists use "allah", "zeus", "buddha" when speaking of other gods they don't believe in?
The Buddha is in no way a god. Still, the same polite convention would work, the Buddha when referring to Gautama and buddha when referring to the concept.
Really though, I don't know any Buddhists who would get their knickers in a twist over either usage.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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HCH
Shipmate
# 14313
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Posted
Is this phenomenon of recent vintage, or does it have a longer history? I think there are many people now writing e-mail and text messages (and maybe posts on the Ship) who capitalize quite haphazardly if at all.
Posts: 1540 | From: Illinois, USA | Registered: Nov 2008
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Crœsos
Shipmate
# 238
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
But you would say "I will go to my dad" not "I will go to my Dad," right?
How exactly do you pronounce capital letters in spoken English?
This discussion seems to parallel to recent legal wrangling in Malaysia about whether Arabic-speaking Christians should be allowed to use the word "Allah" (capitalized or not) when referring to their deity. The current standard seems to forbid it, considering the word to be the sole property of the Islamic deity and leaving Arabic-speaking Christians in Malaysia without a (native) word to specify their god.
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Humani nil a me alienum puto
Posts: 10706 | From: Sardis, Lydia | Registered: May 2001
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mdijon
Shipmate
# 8520
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Yorick:
when referring to their ridiculous invisible friend(s).
Ridiculous Invisible Friend, I think you'll find. For god's sake, show some respect.
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mdijon nojidm uoɿıqɯ ɯqıɿou
ɯqıɿou uoɿıqɯ nojidm mdijon
Posts: 12277 | From: UK | Registered: Sep 2004
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Paul.
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# 37
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Posted
When I hear about 'internet grammar' I'm reminded of Gandhi's quote about Western Civilisation...
Posts: 3689 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2004
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Ariel
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# 58
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
Why do atheists so often insist on writing "God" with a little g?
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Personally I think it's just petty-minded spite, at about the level of a four-year-old.
Yep. I haven't seen any of them give other words like "santa claus" or "father christmas" the same treatment.
(Though there is a group of people who never use capital letters for anything, for some reason, but stance on religion doesn't come into that.)
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Ariel
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# 58
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Crœsos:
How exactly do you pronounce capital letters in spoken English?
With slightly more Emphasis.
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