The earth v. Earth

Wilson Gray hwgray at GMAIL.COM
Wed Aug 8 13:34:36 UTC 2007


I actually had in mind capitalization v. non-capitalization, but
articulation minus capitalization v. non-articulation plus
capitalization is at least as worthy of note.

-Wilson

On 8/8/07, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: The earth v. Earth
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> My wobbly recollection is that members of the Justice League of America ca1961 preferred "Earth" without the article.
>
>   JL
>
>
> Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>   ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Wilson Gray
> Subject: The earth v. Earth
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> From Slashdot science:
>
> "[The asteroid] Apophis will pass closer to _earth_ than
> geosynchronous satellites orbit."
>
> I'm pretty sure - though I wouldn't bet money on it - that, back in
> the '40's and '50's - the earth was referred to as "_the_ earth." More
> recently, it seems to me, "the earth" has been replaced by "Earth."
> Here's an instance that's neither "the earth" nor "Earth." It could be
> a simple typo, however.
>
> -Wilson
> --
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -----
> -Sam'l Clemens
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--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
                                              -Sam'l Clemens

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