Confusion Over Compass Capitalizations

I edit, and have edited, newspaper and magazine articles in my career. One problem I often encounter is what to capitalize. Some people tend to overdo it.

Of course, proper nouns get capital letters. So do many words in titles of books, songs, movies, TV shows and games. But one place I see confusion is with compass directions.

Basically, north, south, east, west, northeast, southwest, northern, southern, etc., is not capitalized when referring to points on a compass or compass directions, unless part of a proper name. So, North Dakota, western Montana.

However, when referring to a geographical region, capitalization comes into play — sometimes.

For example: Hurricane Ida developed in the South but moved north and east once it made landfall. It is expected to bring heavy rain to the East during the week.

And…

High temperatures and extreme drought conditions will prevail throughout several Western states.

But with names of nations and states, lowercase unless they’re part of a proper name or widely recognized region: northern France, western Canada, Southern California, the Lower East Side of New York City, the South Side of Chicago.

Finally, when combining with a common noun to form the name of a region or location, capitalize both words: South Pole, North Woods, Western Hemisphere.

Next: to capitalize or not to capitalize the word federal.

Until next time! Use the right words!

leebarnathan.com

Needed: Caption Writers Who Know “To” from “Two”

Dear “Let’s Make a Deal” executive producer John Quinn, CBS, those whose promotional consideration were paid for by the following, and anyone else who hires the closed captioning writers:

You need to hire new caption writers. As I watched “Let’s Make a Deal,” Wayne Brady and Jonathan Mangum improvised a song to a particular music style. The contestant had five blind choices from which to choose and chose choice three. Then a second contestant had a chance to choose from the four remaining choices. Brady said to the contestant, “You can have one, two, four or five.”

Except the caption read “… one to four, five.”

Who writes this stuff? Do I really have to explain the difference from to, two and too?

(sigh) OK. Two is a number, too means “also,” “besides” and “excessively,” and to is for just about everything else (my dictionary has 26 definitions).

By the way, I am available to write captions if you decide to take me up on it (to here being part of an infinitive, or definition 20 in my dictionary). Just contact me at my website.

Until next time! Use the right words!

leebarnathan.com

If English Was Phonetic

If English words were pronounced phonetically the way Spanish and other Latin-based languages are, we might have these words and these definitions, none of which I created and all of which I found online:

arbitrator — someone who leaves Arby’s to work for another fast food place

avoidable — what a bullfighter tries to do

Bernadette — the act of torching a mortgage or credit card bill

burglarize — what a crook uses to see. Similarly, polarize is what white Arctic bears use to see

counterfeiters — workers who size and assemble kitchen cabinets

eclipse — what a barber does for a living

heroes — what a guy in a boat does

Left Bank — what the robber did when his bag was full of money

paradox — two physicians

parasites — what you see from atop the Eiffel Tower

pharmacist — a helper on a farm

primate — remove your spouse from in front of the TV/computer/phone

relief — what trees do in the spring

rubberneck — what you do to relax your wife, especially when she asks for it

selfish — what the owner of a seafood store does

Sudafed — litigation brought against a government official

Until next time! Use the right words!

leebarnathan.com

When is a Lot a Lot?

One aspect of our language I do not always like is how words evolve into different meanings than their original usage.

Take lot, for example. It first appears in the Jewish Bible as a nephew of Abraham who escaped Sodom and Gomorrah, only to have his wife look back and get turned into a pillar of salt.

Around the 12th century, it added “an object used as a counter in determining a question by chance:” casting lots.

Then it grew to mean “one’s way of life or worldly fate:” one’s lot in life.

Then it became what I most often consider it: “a measured parcel of land having fixed boundaries and designated on a plot or survey:” a vacant lot.

Then it got bastardized into meaning “a considerable quantity:” a lot of money.

I grudgingly accept that last definition, but we already have so many better words: plenty, numerous, large, more than enough, etc.

I think using a lot to denote quantity makes you sound less intelligent. But go ahead if you’d like. Just never write alot because that’s not a word. Perhaps you mean allot, which means “to distribute, divide or appropriate.”

So, when is a lot a lot? Always.

Until next time! Use the right words!

leebarnathan.com

I “Respectfully” Ask You To Clean the Sink and Tub, “Respectively”

Every once in a while, I hear people confuse the words respectively and respectfully.

I searched “respectively + usage” and found several listings differentiating respectively and respectfully. I can’t recall anyone misusing respectfully when he/she means respectively.

Respectively means “in particular” or “in the order given.” Therefore, clean the sink and tub, respectively.

Respectfully means “with respect.” I guess you could say, Clean the sink and tub, respectfully, but it would mean you would have to approach the sink and say something like, “OK, Mr. Sink, I’m going to clean you now. First I’ll shake this cleaning powder into your bowl…” Then you’d have to step into the tub and say something like, “Please, Mr. Tub, I’d like to clean you now.”

See how silly misusing words can be?

Until next time! Use the right words!

leebarnathan.com

Why Not Use the Country’s Native Name?

For many years, I have wondered why we say and spell the names of countries in English differently than the country’s native tongue — when we can say that country’s name in our own language.

Example: Germany. In that country, the name is Deutschland. We can say DOYCH-Land just fine in English. Why, then, do we say Germany?

Another: Israel. In Hebrew, it’s pronounced YIS-ra-EL. We can say that, too. Why Israel?

Actually, there are perfectly good explanations for why this is so, but that’s not my point here. I want to show you some of the various country names in the native tongues that we could pronounce in English just fine, even if we have to slightly alter the spelling. Many of them would sound exactly the same.

ENGLISH–NATIVE

Afghanistan–Afghanestan

Armenia–Hayastán

Bahrain–Al-Bahrayn

Belarus–Bielaruś

Brazil–Brasil

Cambodia–Kampuchea

Denmark–Danmark

Ethiopia–Ityop’ia

Greece–Hellas

Hong Kong–Heung Gong

Iceland–Ísland

India–Bhārat

Iraq–Al-Iraq

Italy–Italia

Japan–Nippon

Jordan–Al-Urdun

Kosovo–Kosova

Laos–Lao

Latvia–Latvija

Netherlands–Nederland

Norway–Norge

Oman–‘Umān

Poland–Polska

Saudi Arabia–Al-‘Arabiyyah as Sa’ūdiyyah

Serbia–Srbija

Slovakia–Slovensko

Slovenia–Slovenija

South Korea–Hanguk

Syria–Suriyah

Tunisia–Tunes

Uzbekistan–O’zbekiston

Vietnam–Việt Nam

Yemen–Al-Yaman

Until next time! Use the right words!

leebarnathan.com

Let’s Get “High” with Proper Usage

It seems that wherever I go, I encounter CBD shops. Even on my recent trip to Lake Tahoe (elevation: 6,237 feet, although I stayed more than 7,400 feet up), I saw pot shops on the main street. This has prompted me to find various “high” words and discuss their correct usages.

High blood pressure — This is preferred to hypertension. Both mean the same thing, but the former more accurately describes blood pressure that is higher than normal.

High definition/high-definition — Two words for a noun, hyphenated for an adjective. The term refers to moving-image hardware and content that produces at least 720 lines of vertical resolution. Anything less isn’t high definition (or HD, which is acceptable on second reference).

High-five — It’s a noun. Note the hyphen.

High-fived — It’s a verb. Note the hyphen.

High-tech — It’s an adjective. Note the hyphen.

Highway designations — There are several forms: U.S. Highway 395, U.S. Route 1, U.S. 1, state Route 14 (note the capitalization), Route 66, Interstate Highway 95, Interstate 10 (but on second reference: I-10).

Highway patrol — It’s capitalized when part of a formal name of a police agency. In my state, it’s the California Highway Patrol. But highway patrolman is always lower case.

Until next time! Use the right words!

leebarnathan.com

Family Matters: Their Names and Capitalizations

Recently, the song “Bad is Bad” by Huey Lewis & The News played on my Spotify playlist. I heard the words In the crowd I sees his mom and dad/I say, ‘Hey hey, Uncle. Man, your son is bad.

As I edited a magazine article, I came across these words: “…cooking in the kitchen with mom and dad …”

Something seems to be telling me to write about family names. OK, here goes.

When to capitalize and when not to? When it comes to family, follow the rules regarding capitalizing proper nouns. If it’s a name, capitalize it. If not, don’t.

So, in the two above examples, the guy who spots his relatives in the crowd would lower-case mom and dad because he’s just describing the people. But he capitalizes Uncle because he’s using that as the man’s name.

In the magazine article, mom and dad should be capitalized because the author is referring to specific people who she calls Mom and Dad (while it’s true they have other names, they’re not mentioned in the article).

I’m also reminded of how my mother (lower case) referred to her mother and father (lower case). She called them Mother and Dad (upper case).

Until next time! Use the right words!

leebarnathan.com

Oyez! The Sons-in-law Didn’t Know What PLO Means

I remember the almost peace deal between Israel and the PLO in 2000. I also remember PLO leader Yasser (or Yasir, depending on your spelling) Arafat saying no, irritating President Bill Clinton to no end. What I didn’t remember was what PLO stood for.

Ask people what PLO stands for, and they’ll likely say Palestinian Liberation Organization. And they’d be wrong. It’s Palestine Liberation Organization.

That got me thinking. Are there other names, words or terms that people get wrong often? I found a great many entries online that mentioned company names that often get mispronounced. But that’s not what I’m talking about.

I’m talking about words that get misspelled. Like Palestine instead of Palestinian. Here are a few others.

Mach — When I was a little boy, I watched “Speed Racer.” Like many kids, I was wowed by the car, the Mach 5. But in the theme song, I heard “Mark 5,” so I sang it that way for years. No one corrected me.

I was too young to know (or care) that Mach refers to Ernst Mach, an Austrian physicist who studied shock waves. The ratio of the speed an object to the speed of sound is the Mach number. Typically, the speed of sound is about 750 mph and sea level and 660 mph at 30,000 feet. Traveling the speed of sound is Mach 1. Mach 2 is twice the speed of sound, and so on.

Oyez — When court officials or public officials cry out for silence, this is what they’re saying. They’re not saying Oyes.

Sons-in-law/daughters-in-law/mothers-in-law/fathers-in-law/brothers-in-law/sisters-in-law — I see this way too often. These are correct. It is not son-in-laws/daughter-in-laws/etc. Just like with attorneys general and  editors-in-chief, the pluralized word is the first word because it’s the noun. The rest is just descriptive.

Spilled — What’s wrong with this word, you ask? Nothing. But complete this sentence: “There’s no crying over _____ milk.” You might have thought spilt. And while it is a simple past tense and past participle of spill, it’s also more common in England. Here, we use spilled.

Until next time! Use the right words!

leebarnathan.com