[Ads-l] capitonym

[Jonathan Lighter]

Priceless.

JL

On Sat, Jul 20, 2019 at 4:13 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
wrote:

> I have a 20 year old NYT headline on my office door involving a
> capitonymic ambiguity. It reads…well, it will be more dramatic this way,
> for a reason you’ll see when you click on the link:
>
> https://tinyurl.com/y6hd9xgs
>
> LH
>
>
> > On Jul 20, 2019, at 2:24 PM, Mark Mandel <markamandel at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> >
> > Sent to me by a friend:
> >
> > A *capitonym* is a word that changes its meaning (and sometimes
> > pronunciation) when it is capitalized; the capitalization usually applies
> > due to one form being a proper noun or eponym. It is a portmanteau of the
> > word *capital* with the suffix *-onym*.
> >
> > See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitonym
> >
> > Mark (not a mark)
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


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