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Eyrie Productions, Unlimited
Gryphon
Charter Member
17993 posts |
Aug-21-16, 02:22 PM (EDT) |
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"Maybe You CAN Make This Up"
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So I've been reading my way through "The Story of Cities", a Guardian series about urban development, and it's been interesting. There have been some places I've never heard of, and new information about some that I have. I'm getting toward the end now, and in one of the last entries (on what's become of the former capital city of Burma, Rangoon, which is now the non-capital city of Mynamar, Yangon), I just ran across something that raised an eyebrow: "The lawyers of Yangon could have done with a little divine intervention in their recent battle against the privatisation of the former high court and police commissioner’s office, a grand classical edifice whose ionic colonnade marches around an entire city block facing the waterfront on Strand Road. The place has a dark history; its top floors were used as torture chambers by the Japanese during the second world war and by the military regime in the 1960s and 70s. They will soon become the luxury spa of a new five-star Kempinski hotel, due to open next year." (The Guardian's curious reluctance to capitalize things that should be capitalized, such as "Second World War", also routinely raises my eyebrows, as does the British press's recent habit of not capitalizing acronyms, but that is neither here nor there for our current purposes.) Anyway, yeah. And here I thought I was indulging in artistic license with the Imperial Hotel Lubyanka. Turns out there really are hoteliers that tone-deaf. --G. -><- Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/ zgryphon at that email service Google has Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam. |
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Mercutio
Member since May-26-13
762 posts |
Aug-21-16, 05:01 PM (EDT) |
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1. "RE: Maybe You CAN Make This Up"
In response to message #0
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LAST EDITED ON Aug-21-16 AT 05:03 PM (EDT) >So I've been reading my way through >"The Story of Cities", >a Guardian series about urban development,I'm going to have to check this out. I love, love love love, stories of urbanization and the logistics and history surrounding it. I have a well-thumbed copy of Cadillac Desert on the shelf near me, along with Caro's The Power Broker, although that's a bit more about politics than it is about Robert Moses' development strategy. >(The Guardian's curious reluctance to capitalize things that >should be capitalized, such as "Second World War", also routinely >raises my eyebrows, as does the British press's recent habit of not >capitalizing acronyms, but that is neither here nor there for our >current purposes.) I rolled this over in my head and I can kind of, sort of, suss out the reasoning in this specific instance. I think. I can see someone deciding "World War II is a proper noun and should be capitalized, second world war is not, it's merely referring to the second of a series of world wars. So you don't capitalize it for the same reason I didn't capitalize 'world wars' in the sentence immediately preceding this one." I would not necessarily agree with that logic, on aesthetic grounds if nothing else, but the argument might just be wrong without actually being risible. How the hell do you not capitalize an acronym, though? I mean... I have treated them like regular words on accident sometimes. I've typed "Nasa" and "Norad" when I meant "NASA" and "NORAD." But that's me fucking up. And I don't run a newspaper. -Merc Keep Rat |
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Gryphon
Charter Member
17993 posts |
Aug-21-16, 05:17 PM (EDT) |
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2. "RE: Maybe You CAN Make This Up"
In response to message #1
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>How the hell do you not capitalize an acronym, though? I mean... I >have treated them like regular words on accident sometimes. I've typed >"Nasa" and "Norad" when I meant "NASA" and "NORAD." But that's me >fucking up. And I don't run a newspaper. The explanation I've seen that it's a visual indication of whether a name made up from initials is an initialism (i.e., you say the letters individually) or an acronym (spoken as a word). So, for instance, in modern British press parlance the European Space Agency is still the ESA, but NASA is Nasa. (Also Norad, Nascar, Comsublant, and so forth.) I can see the logic behind it—it is a clear indication of whether you're dealing with one or the other—and it's been put to me as nothing more than the next logical extension beyond omitting the periods (which we already do, nobody calls it N.A.S.A. any more), but I still find it irritating as fuck. --G. -><- Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/ zgryphon at that email service Google has Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam. |
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