I don’t capitalize it. I’m getting sick of Microsoft Word flagging it and suggesting Internet.
So which is it? Capitalized or not?
There’s only one Internet. That makes it a proper noun, and it should be capitalized.
According to Wikipedia, most newspapers, periodicals, and technical journals capitalize the term, though some (mostly in the UK) have started using it lower case.
It is, of course, a matter of style, so you can do what you wish as long as you’re consistent.
I cap Internet but not intranet. The former is a proper noun, the latter is not.
Agreed. When I’m proofing, I cap Internet, but not intranet.
Yes. An internet is a group of computer networks, connected together. The Internet is the worldwide publically-accessible internet (note small i) to which we all connect.
As a matter of style, internet will lose its capital in the near future. (If president has, I guarantee internet will follow.) If you want to leave it uncapitalized now in any informal context (like the Dope) it won’t raise an eyebrow.
If you are in a formal context, use whatever the mandated style guide says.
I’m writing for school, and the only style guide we’ve got so far is APA, which doesn’t have much to say about spelling.
I haven’t asked my instructors, but judging from their writing, it’s a toss up.
I was of the mind the word is so commonplace now it’s like saying “phone system.”
I tend to agree, but are there cases where “internet” is still generic? Historically, two or more connected private networks would be called “an internet.” Has this usage been entirely replaced by “intranet”? If so, I guess the way is clear to downcase “the Internet.”
BTW: “Phone system” is rather ambiguous nowadays. The last time I wrote about that copper wire that used to run to your house, it was an acronym: POTS, meaning plain old telephone service (in the U.S.). No kidding.
Whence this rule that everything of which there is only one needs to be capitalized? There is only one sun (only one star that we call sun, I mean) and we don’t capitalize that.
Sometimes we do. It is a style choice.
The way I do it is: “The spaceship headed for the Sun,” but “We hung the sheets up to dry in the sun.”
The way I understand it is the planets are capitalized, including the earth, if it’s included in the list. By itself, earth doesn’t get capitalized. Not sure but the sun may be treated the same way.
I treat Earth/earth pretty much the same way I treat Sun/sun: “On Earth, there are 6 billion people,” but “They dug up the earth in their search.” That’s a little different than Sun/sun, because “earth” lowercased in my example is clearly a synonym for “dirt,” not the name of a planet. Of course, “sun” lowercased is also a synonym for “sunlight” or “sunshine,” I guess.
Actually there are many suns. In astronomy, in science fiction, the lower-case *sun
- is often used when speaking of other stars and systems.
So it’s like Saturn has many moons, the Earth has one moon. If you’re standing on the black earth, staring up at the Moon you can see Saturn’s moon, if you had eyes like a telescope
I was surprised the Chicago Manual of Style doesn’t directly address this (checking both the book and the Web site). The closest thing I could find was from the Q&A section:
As always with these types of questions, your ultimate guide is whoever assigned the project (e.g., boss, professor, client). They choose which style guidelines to follow and what exceptions there are. If you have a style guide to work from but not a direct answer, try looking in other places for how it treats the term. There must be uses of Internet in the guidelines that deal with sources and citation – see how it’s used there.
Good luck
ETA:
I missed this memo. I know there has always been a distinction between the general and the specific case, but when is it president Bush?
Perhaps Expano is referring only to the noun, not the title. So you could say Bush is the president, but should still address him as President Bush.
Right… I want to be the president of some country some day, but I’m not sure I want the responsibility of the President of the United States. I’d never known the lowercase president to have been capitalized.
Historically, any network (not necessarily two connected ones) using TCP/IP protocol (not just any network) would be called an “internet” because that’s the name coined for the protocol.
No. As every Yorkshireman knows, the correct term is T’internet.