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

Thu Aug 16 14:02:44 UTC 2018

Yeah, CinemaScope!

As far as I was concerned, the capitalization format was unique for many,
many years. And so familiar as to excite no comment.

JL

On Thu, Aug 16, 2018 at 3:07 AM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
wrote:

> The book "Netymology" suggests that CinemaScope and VistaVision are
> early examples of camelcase in the corporate world.
>
> Date: 2016 (2013 Copyright)
> Book: Netymology: From Apps to Zombies: A Linguistic Celebration of
> the Digital World
> Author: Tom Chatfield
> Publisher: Quercus, New York
> Section 51: CamelCase
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> It's important to note that the web didn't invent CamelCase as a style
> of corporate branding. Perhaps the first companies to deploy it were
> the rival film format brands CinemaScope and VistaVision in the 1950s.
> It is, however, fair to point to the web as a massive popularizer of
> the technique—something that has also seen it become fashionable as
> well as functional, perhaps because of the association with leading
> technology brands from eBay to YouTube via iPods and PayPal.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> On Thu, Aug 16, 2018 at 2:04 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Coca-Cola is sometimes written as CocaCola, i.e., with medial
> > capitals. I thought it might be helpful to determine when this
> > alternative form began to appear.
> >
> > But it is very difficult to search for CocaCola. Many search engines
> > ignore your precise query term "CocaCola" and allow matches for
> > "Coca-Cola" and "Coca Cola".
> >
> > Google sometimes pastes together the pieces "Coca-" and "Cola" which
> > have been split between lines to yield "CocaCola".
> >
> > Garson
> >
> > On Tue, Aug 14, 2018 at 3:12 PM, Andy Bach <afbach at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> 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.
> >>
> >> First "SeaMaster" looks capitalized here - but WikiP does have a "style
> >> guide" for capitals.  My guess is the jpg was just named incorrectly.
> >>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Naming_conventions_(capitalization)
> >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Capital_letters
> >> Wikipedia avoids unnecessary capitalization
> >> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalization>. In English
> >> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language>, capitalization is
> >> primarily needed for proper names
> >> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proper_name_(linguistics)>, acronyms
> >> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acronym>, and for the first letter of a
> >> sentence.[a]
> >> <
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Capital_letters#cite_note-Sentence_case-1
> >
> >> Wikipedia relies on sources to determine what is conventionally
> >> capitalized; only words and phrases that are *consistently capitalized
> in a
> >> substantial majority of independent, reliable sources* are capitalized
> in
> >> Wikipedia.
> >>
> >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Trademarks
> >> *Trademarks <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark>* include words
> and
> >> short phrases used by legal entities to identify themselves and their
> >> products and services. Often, these names are written in several ways
> with
> >> variations in capitalization, punctuation, and formatting. The advice in
> >> this page also applies to names and phrases used to identify
> individuals,
> >> movements, groups, forums, projects, events, and other non-commercial
> >> entities and their output.
> >>
> >> Trademarks in "CamelCase <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CamelCase>"
> are a
> >> judgment call; the style may be used where it reflects general usage and
> >> makes the trademark more readable.
> >>
> >>    - OxyContin <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxycodone> or Oxycontin
> >> – *editor's
> >>    choice*
> >>    - *however:* PlayStation <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation>
> >>    only (camelcase preferred because Playstation is not widely-used.)
> >>    - Initial lowercase in certain trademarks almost never written any
> other
> >>    way, such as iPhone <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone> and eBay
> >>    <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay>, are accepted on Wikipedia,
> though
> >>    for page naming there are technical limitations
> >>    <
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Page_name#Technical_restrictions_and_limitations
> >
> >>    and methods of displaying the title appropriately
> >>    <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:DISPLAYTITLE>.
> >>
> >>
> >> On Mon, Aug 13, 2018 at 11:25 AM Geoffrey Nathan <geoffnathan at wayne.edu
> >
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >>> 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
> >>>
> >>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >>> -----------------------
> >>> 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
> >>>
> >>>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>>
> >>> 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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> >>> > Devoted to the study of English around the world.
> >>> >
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> >>> > >
> >>> >
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> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >>
> >> a
> >>
> >> Andy Bach,
> >> afbach at gmail.com
> >> 608 658-1890 cell
> >> 608 261-5738 wk
> >>
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>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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-- 
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