The earth v. Earth

[Jonathan Lighter]

Of course, in comic books, everything was capitalized.  And ended with an exclamation point!

  JL
Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Wilson Gray
Subject: Re: The earth v. Earth
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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 wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Jonathan Lighter
> 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 wrote:
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> 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 recently, it seems to me, "the earth" has been replaced by "Earth."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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