Editor's Corner

As promised, I’m starting the week with the return to capitalization and as Grammar Girl says, “…its overuse and its misuse in the business world.” Today we’re starting with a portion of an article called “Meaning Is Key.”

One reason capitalization matters is that a word’s meaning can change depending on whether it’s uppercase or lowercase.

“See those three domiciles over there? Well, I live in the white house.” That’s quite different from, “I live in the White House [capital W, capital H].” That White House is where the president lives.

In English, we capitalize words that are proper nouns—that is, they describe a specific thing or entity. They could be a title, a name, or a specific place such as the president’s residence: [THEE] White House. [KC – As opposed to “thuh white house…” any ordinary house painted white.]

We lowercase words that are considered common nouns—that is, they can be used to describe many things, such as any one of the multitude of white colored houses in the world. [KC – As opposed to “thuh white house…” any ordinary house painted white. Some common nouns I often see capitalized by mistake here include: network, server, software,
core, documentation, department, service, etc.]

Tomorrow: Job Titles and Job Descriptions

(Excerpt from Grammar Girl at: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com)

NOTICE: This electronic mail message and any files transmitted with it are intended
exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. The message,
together with any attachment, may contain confidential and/or privileged information.
Any unauthorized review, use, printing, saving, copying, disclosure or distribution
is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please
immediately advise the sender by reply email and delete all copies.