[Ads-l] Capitalizing in the middle of a trade name

Mon Aug 13 16:29:38 UTC 2018

The capital in the middle (however it is arrived at) is eye-catching, always a plus for trade names.

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MARGARET E WINTERS
Former Provost
Professor Emerita - French and Linguistics
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI  48202

mewinters at wayne.edu

________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Geoffrey Nathan <geoffnathan at WAYNE.EDU>
Sent: Monday, August 13, 2018 12:25 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Capitalizing in the middle of a trade name

Not hard:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buick_Roadmaster#/media/File:Buick_87_4-D%C3%B6rrars_Sedan_1932.jpg

vs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_P6M_SeaMaster#/media/File:Martin_P6M_Seamaster_in_flight_c1955.jpg

(note that Wikipedia doesn’t capitalize either M.

Geoff

Geoffrey S. Nathan
WSU Information Privacy Officer (Retired)
Emeritus Professor, Linguistics Program
http://blogs.wayne.edu/proftech/
geoffnathan at wayne.edu

________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Monday, August 13, 2018 12:08:25 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Capitalizing in the middle of a trade name

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Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Capitalizing in the middle of a trade name
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How does this allow one to differentiate a Buick Roadmaster from the Martin
SeaMaster?

On Mon, Aug 13, 2018, 10:47 AM Margaret Winters <mewinters at wayne.edu> wrote:

> I wonder if a better description (rather than stating that the middle of a
> trade name is capitalized) is to say that the space between two words has
> been omitted in this sort of trade name.  The capital would then be
> explained by the fact that the single word was once (or similar items were
> once) a compound with all members capitalized as are titles.
>
>
> best to all,
>
> Margaret
>
>
> ----------------------------
> MARGARET E WINTERS
> Former Provost
> Professor Emerita - French and Linguistics
> Wayne State University
> Detroit, MI  48202
>
> mewinters at wayne.edu
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Dan
> Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Monday, August 13, 2018 10:39 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Capitalizing in the middle of a trade name
>
> What about the 1927 Buick LaSalle?
>
> On Mon, Aug 13, 2018, 10:32 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > This practice has been pretty common for years (so common, I can't think
> of
> > an example), but I was shocked (anglice, mildly surprised) to find this
> ex.
> > from 1955. (I've been familiar with the product almost as long, but never
> > thought the one-word name was capitalized in the middle).
> >
> > 1955 _Newsweek_ [Google Books]: The tanks have also checked out countless
> > ideas for seaplanes, notably the Martin SeaMaster, the 600-mile-an-hour
> > multijet bomber which the Navy has just partially revealed as a
> > revolutionary contender to land-based jets.
> >
> > Like the spelling ,the SeaMaster was one of the most futuristic-looking
> > items of the '50s.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
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