# Is 'internet' a proper noun or not??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 25, 2008, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-internet-a-proper-noun-or-not/450516 "2008-05-25T01:03:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-internet-a-proper-noun-or-not/450516/61 "2008-05-29T16:58:29Z")
[QUOTE=Rhythmdvl] Are you saying that if I compared relevant sections of my (current) ChiMan with an earlier version, the text would be drastically different? [/quote] I think it would. But you’d have to go back to at least the 12th edition from 1969 to check. > [@](#): > > Or are you saying that when you went to school, the perceived common practice of elementary school teachers was one way, but now the common convention seems to be different? I’m way too old to remember what my elementary school teachers said. 🙂 I’m thinking of books and newspapers. Aha. Let me pull a book from that era off my shelf. How about 1965’s Ray Ginger, _Age of Excess_. (Good readable history of the post-Civil War era.) First book I pulled off the shelf, with no idea of what I’d find inside. Obviously, I can’t prove that so feel free to test it yourself with older books. > [@](#): > > Now the President got power to bargain… > > Cleveland had by far the widest margin of any President in 20 years. > > Even those Congressmen of 1890… > > urged that the Federal government raise a public loan… > > other troubles of Eastern investors… > > one of the major railways in the West… I doubt any of those usages would be capitalized today. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-internet-a-proper-noun-or-not/450516/62 "2008-05-29T17:21:55Z")
Fascinating. _Someone_ on this board has to have a twelfth edition. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-internet-a-proper-noun-or-not/450516/63 "2008-05-29T17:30:32Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] I doubt any of those usages would be capitalized today. [/QUOTE] Interesting. I still tend to waffle over East & West, particularly when saying East Coast or West Coast. Lately I think I’ve been leaving them small case, but my urge is to cap them. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-internet-a-proper-noun-or-not/450516/64 "2008-05-29T17:34:52Z")
[Here’s an article on “president” vs “President” and when the stylistic change happened.](http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1741-5705.2007.02634.x?cookieSet=1) > [@](#): > > Arguably, the three leading style manuals are the New York Times Manual of Style, U.S. Government Style Manual, and Chicago Manual of Style. The New York Times Manual of Style, as revealed below, recommended uppercase “President” in 1976 but a lowercase “president” in its newly revised and edited 1999 update. This change is now reflected in the New York Times, the nation’s “newspaper of record.” The U.S. Government Style Manual has never abandoned the uppercase referent. > > The Chicago Manual of Style (1969) was the first to recommend the lowercase “president.” Earlier editions of the Chicago Manual of Style permitted the uppercase referent; most recent editions recommend the lowercase usage. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-internet-a-proper-noun-or-not/450516/65 "2008-05-29T17:35:13Z")
For background and reference, here are a few relevant sections from the current ChiMan: > [@](#): > > **§8.21 Capitalization: the general rule** > Civil, military, religious, and professional titles are capitalized when they immediately precede a personal name and are thus used as part of the name (usually replacing the title holder’s first name). Titles are normally lowercased when following a name or used in place of a name. > [@](#): > > **§8.23 Titles used in apposition** > When a title is used in apposition before a personal name, not as part of the name but as a descriptive tag, and often with the, it is lowercased. > [@](#): > > **§8.25 Civil titles** > the president; George Washington, first president of the United States; President Washington; the presidency; presidential; the Washington administration (see also 8.23); Chandrika Kumaratunga, president of Sri Lanka; President Kumaratunga or Mrs. Kumaratunga > the vice president; Richard Cheney, vice president of the United States; Vice President Cheney; vice-presidential duties; Jorge Quiroga, vice president of Bolivia; Vice President Quiroga > the secretary of state; Colin Powell, secretary of state; Secretary of State Powell or Secretary Powell > the senator; the senator from West Virginia; Senator Robert C. Byrd; Senators Byrd and Trent; Sen. John Glenn, Democrat from Ohio (or D-OH; see 15.31) …snip > [@](#): > > **§8.26 Titles of sovereigns and other rulers** > King Abdullah; the king of Jordan > Queen Elizabeth; Elizabeth II; the queen (in a British Commonwealth context, the Queen) > the Holy Roman Emperor > Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, emir of Bahrain; Sheik Hamad > the shah of Iran > the sharif of Mecca > the paramount chief of Basutoland > Wilhelm II, emperor of Germany; Kaiser Wilhelm II; the kaiser > the führer (Adolf Hitler) > Il Duce (used only of Benito Mussolini; both i and d capitalized) > [@](#): > > **§8.30 Corporate and organizational titles** > Titles of persons holding offices such as those listed below are rarely used as part of a name. If a short form is required, either the generic term or simply a personal name suffices. > [@](#): > > **§8.35 Terms of respect** > Honorific titles and respectful forms of address are capitalized. For the use of many such terms in formal correspondence, see “Forms of Address,” a comprehensive listing at the back of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. For abbreviations, see 15.18. The following examples are intended merely to illustrate capitalization. > [@](#): > > **§8.36 Epithets, or nicknames** > A characterizing word or phrase used as part of, or instead of, a person’s name is capitalized. ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-internet-a-proper-noun-or-not/450516/66 "2008-05-30T02:22:57Z")
So: “Al Gore, the internet” is not capitalized, while “Internet Gore” is. gotcha ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-internet-a-proper-noun-or-not/450516/67 "2008-05-30T02:38:17Z")
Could we not politicize this? Yes, War Criminal Bush would technically be correct. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-internet-a-proper-noun-or-not/450516/68 "2008-05-30T04:15:15Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] Interesting. I still tend to waffle over East & West, particularly when saying East Coast or West Coast. Lately I think I’ve been leaving them small case, but my urge is to cap them. [/QUOTE] I still cap East Coast and West Coast. One of the local English-language newspapers caps the regions of Thailand – North, South, Northeast – but lowercases them when it’s northeastern, northern etc. The catch is the Central region; they never seem to be sure what to do with that, since “central” is not a noun. They generally cap it while being sure to use the word “region,” as in “Central region.” They also use “Deep South” for the American Deep South, but “deep South” for the farthest southern provinces in Thailand. There’s years-long Muslim insurrection raging down there, so it’s mentioned quite a lot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-internet-a-proper-noun-or-not/450516.md?page=3)