Stupid Question Of The Day

[lxskllr]

If you're starting a sentence with a proper noun; example, a user name on a forum. Do you capitalize the first letter if that user uses lower case for his name?

 

[moshquerade]

If you're starting a sentence with a proper noun; example, a user name on a forum. Do you capitalize the first letter if that user uses lower case for his name?

:sneaky:

i'm lazy about capitalizing anything here. everyone knows that.

 

[DaTT]

I always tray and use proper grammar.

 

[MotF Bane]

If you're starting a sentence with a proper noun; example, a user name on a forum. Do you capitalize the first letter if that user uses lower case for his name?

I would.

 

[MotF Bane]

I always tray and use proper grammar.

:awe:

 

[2Xtreme21]

Yes you do. For example:

EBay (even though it's technically "eBay") should have the E capitalized when starting a sentence.

 

[geno]

But I don't want my name capitalized. It's lowercase on purpose

 

[lxskllr]

Yes you do. For example:

EBay (even though it's technically "eBay") should have the E capitalized when starting a sentence.

See, that's where I get hung up. My tendency is to capitalize it, but eBay is a registered trademark, not EBay. Now if I wanted to start a company called EBay, I'm sure I'd get shut down pretty quickly, but I think the spirit remains. If the company/person has a lowercase name, I think that should be respected. I could very well be wrong, but that's my reasoning behind it.

 

[gaidensensei]

I try to work around that by restructuring the sentence, so it looks the way it is. Just like what lxskllr's thread is discussing. Lxskllr however, I do not know what method he prefers.
:awe:

 

[2Xtreme21]

See, that's where I get hung up. My tendency is to capitalize it, but eBay is a registered trademark, not EBay. Now if I wanted to start a company called EBay, I'm sure I'd get shut down pretty quickly, but I think the spirit remains. If the company/person has a lowercase name, I think that should be respected. I could very well be wrong, but that's my reasoning behind it.

I don't care what the trademark says... you wanna write the sentence correctly, you capitalize the first letter of every sentence. I can only think of a few instances where it'd be awkward (like if the sentences started with "mm" (as in millimeters), but in the once-in-a-lifetime chance that you'd write a sentence like "'mm' is the approrpriate way to abbreviate 'millimeter'," you should probably just reword it so "mm" falls later in the sentence).

http://essayinfo.com/sguides/capitalization.php

 

[lxskllr]

http://essayinfo.com/sguides/capitalization.php

Capitalize the first word of every sentence, heading and headline, including quoted statements and direct questions. Even if a person, business or organization begins its name with a lowercase letter, capitalize the first letter of the name at the beginning of sentences, headings and headlines: Gary de Shazo won the design award. De Shazo expressed appreciation for the support of his colleagues.

I wonder if there's any dissenting opinions on that.

 

[gaidensensei]

You know, this isn't really a stupid question. A lot of misconceptions, questions and issues arise with conventional writing systems in general. English, Latin, German, etc.

This is because there are so many rules set to it, that it can get confusing at times if you didn't learn the entire system or don't know it right away.

However some languages like the Germans for example, have "Weiss" where you can substitute 'ss' with a ß, which has no capitalization or grammatical rules because there is no traditional form, you just use it the way it's written. I'm not sure as I'm not german, but I don't think there's any words in german that start with a ß, which kinda defeats the point.

But with other writing styles where words are based on memorization and character strokes (Russian, C/J/K, come to mind) there are no such capitalization nor pronunciation accents implemented into those languages.

Perhaps this is the reason to why those languages are less likely to have a problem with general sentence structure and creation?

 

[ChaoZ]

I just quote that fool and be done with it.

 

[lxskllr]

You know, this isn't really a stupid question. A lot of misconceptions, questions and issues arise with conventional writing systems in general. English, Latin, German, etc.

This is because there are so many rules set to it, that it can get confusing at times if you didn't learn the entire system or don't know it right away.

However some languages like the Germans for example, have "Weiss" where you can substitute 'ss' with a ß, which has no capitalization or grammatical rules because there is no traditional form, you just use it the way it's written. I'm not sure as I'm not german, but I don't think there's any words in german that start with a ß, which kinda defeats the point.

But with other writing styles where words are based on memorization and character strokes (Russian, C/J/K, come to mind) there are no such capitalization nor pronunciation accents implemented into those languages.

Perhaps this is the reason to why those languages are less likely to have a problem with general sentence structure and creation?

In addition to that, the internet's really changed the way things work. Thirty years ago, you could have gone your whole life, and never run into the need for capitalizing a usually lowercased word. I run into that every couple of weeks now it seems. It was something I never had to deal with in life until recently.

 

[theprodigalrebel]

iTunes is a piece of shit. eBay never fails to deliver the fail. llsklkr has got good taste in music.
That's how I do it.

 

[brblx]

cap...i....tal..ize?

 

[zinfamous]

well, names of genes and other such things, like protein complexes, are often lowercase. For journal publications, when writing sentences opening with such names, they are always lowercase--But also in italics, usually.

so I'd go with lowercase.

:\

that is a style rule for a rather separate type of publication field than what is likely relevant to you...so maybe this tip is useless.

 

[zinfamous]

I wonder if there's any dissenting opinions on that.

I would say that is proper for print journalism (AP style).

 

[Xstatic1]

i say no, especially if it's a trademarked name.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Yes you do. For example:

EBay (even though it's technically "eBay") should have the E capitalized when starting a sentence.

Nein.

 

[Mike Gayner]

i say no, especially if it's a trademarked name.

WTF has trademark got to do with it? Now we base our rules of English grammar and usage around intellectual property rights legislation?

 

[SphinxnihpS]

Yes you do. For example:

EBay (even though it's technically "eBay") should have the E capitalized when starting a sentence.

No. Citation in the Chicago Manual of Style please. Fuck the AP book bro, it's wrong.

 

[geno]

WTF has trademark got to do with it? Now we base our rules of English grammar and usage around intellectual property rights legislation?

I before E - ALWAYS! Brought to you by Always maxi pads.

 

[sandorski]

Just use the Rules!

x * x = X
X * x = X
X * X = x

Disclaimer:Not an English Scientist

 

[SandEagle]

there is no such thing as a stupid question. only stupid people.