# Our Moon **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 25, 2003, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-moon/209486 "2003-10-25T14:23:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-moon/209486/21 "2003-10-26T12:00:16Z")
Besides, what’s wrong with egocentricity? ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-moon/209486/22 "2003-10-26T12:27:45Z")
[There’s a moon in the sky, It’s called the moon](http://www.mulch.demon.co.uk/b52s/albums/theb52s/moon.html) ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-moon/209486/23 "2003-10-26T12:39:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Libertarian \* > \*\*Besides, what’s wrong with egocentricity? \*\* That’s what I always say. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-moon/209486/24 "2003-10-26T12:53:27Z")
My Moon can beat up your Moon! Anyway, it’s easy to understand what the wolves call it. They call it the MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON. ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-moon/209486/25 "2003-10-26T14:47:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > \*\*Anyway, it’s easy to understand what the wolves call it. They call it the MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON. \*\* Who knew wolves and cows had so much in common? ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-moon/209486/26 "2003-10-26T14:51:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ilsa\_Lund \* > \*\*I will call it George. > > Give me TWO things that is a reference to, and you can spend Friday Evening with me. (Provided you are a young lady) \*\* 1. Samuel R Delany - don’t remember the name of the book, but the city is called Bellona. 2. Left as an excercise to the rest of the readership (that means “I don’t know” :)) And I don’t qualify for the honor… Dan Abarbanel ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-moon/209486/27 "2003-10-26T15:31:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by wolf\_meister \* > **According to proper grammar, the Moon should NOT be capitalized.** Says Who? Webster’s says: > [@](#): > > moon[1,n] > 1 a often capitalized : the earth’s natural satellite… > b : one complete moon cycle consisting of four phases > c : SATELLITE OK, so it says “often” rather than always but it sounds like it’s OK to capitalize it. It should really be classified as a proper noun and capitalized, IMHO, and that’s the way it’s used by astronomers. I haven’t heard astronomers use “Luna,” “Selene” or other names preferred by sci-fi authors. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-moon/209486/28 "2003-10-26T15:48:58Z")
“Called Luna by the Romans, Selene and Artemis by the Greeks, and many other names in other mythologies.” [http://www.seds.org/billa/tnp/luna.html](http://www.seds.org/billa/tnp/luna.html) I think since WE only have one moon, there’s really no need to specify it with a “name” as such. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-moon/209486/29 "2003-10-26T19:15:17Z")
**scr4** , the dictionary is not a grammar reference; it’s a definition and spelling reference. It’s correct in saying that the word is often capitalized, but that doesn’t mean it’s correct or incorrect to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-moon/209486/30 "2003-10-26T21:04:27Z")
But the standard rules of grammar dictate that proper nouns are capitalized, and the use of the term to refer to the body orbitting the Earth is a proper noun. Similarly, we refer to our own Sun, Solar System, Galaxy, and Universe, but one can also refer to some other moon (anything orbiting a planet), sun (any star with planets around it), solar system (a sun together with its planets), galaxy, or (hypothetically) universe. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-moon/209486/31 "2003-10-26T22:43:56Z")
It’s still a stylistic convention. If it were considered to be only a proper noun, then it would be capitalized in the dictionary. Sometimes it’s a proper noun, and sometimes it’s a common noun. What a lot of publishers will do is use the dictionary spelling (including capitalization) of a word as the rule and then have a separate style sheet that lists words they prefer to express differently (capitalization, hyphenation, and so forth). ([http://www.public.asu.edu/~gelderen/314text/chap4.htm](http://www.public.asu.edu/~gelderen/314text/chap4.htm) has an example of the word not being capitalized; it’s a grammar instruction site.) “Moon” is one of these. At my work, we capitalize it (and Sun). But it’s on our style sheet as an exception to the norm. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-moon/209486/32 "2003-10-26T23:00:42Z")
Nobody has mentioned Cruithne yet? ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-moon/209486/33 "2003-10-26T23:30:32Z")
Here is a site: [http://athena.english.vt.edu/~IDLE/Gym2/workout7/w7a.stretch2.2.html](http://athena.english.vt.edu/~IDLE/Gym2/workout7/w7a.stretch2.2.html) Actually the webpage is specifically discussing _articles_ (a, an, the) but it shows sentences using moon and sun in lowercase. As I’ve said, I believe that is proper grammar, but at the risk of having many exam papers marked incorrect, I always will capitalize the Moon and the Sun. As I’ve said, in astronomy publications they are always uppercase. Thank you. And we all shine on… like the Moon and the stars and the Sun ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2003, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-moon/209486/34 "2003-10-27T00:06:50Z")
On the other hand, [http://www.musicsonglyrics.com/J/John%20Lennon/John%20Lennon%20-%20Instant%20Karma%20lyrics.htm](http://www.musicsonglyrics.com/J/John%20Lennon/John%20Lennon%20-%20Instant%20Karma%20lyrics.htm) [quote] Well we all shine on, Like the moon and the stars and the sun, Yeah we all shine on, Come on and on and on on on, Yeah yeah, alright, uh huh, ah - . [quote] 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2003, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-moon/209486/35 "2003-10-27T01:16:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ilsa\_Lund \* > I will call it George. [Patriotic Brit] [That name’s already taken for something else](http://members.tripod.com/debnken/uranus.html). [/Patriotic Brit] ---
**Author:** ![KP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a9adbd/32.png) [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2003, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-moon/209486/36 "2003-10-27T01:52:33Z")
**_Duckster asked_ "But can you dance to it?"** I can. - Dances with Wolves, MD ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2003, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-moon/209486/37 "2003-10-27T01:55:23Z")
**dantheman** That is precisely my point. That is the reason for my failing my “Instant Karma” test in college. Incorrect uppercase usage. LOL ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2003, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-moon/209486/38 "2003-10-27T02:00:55Z")
Well, _my_ point was that it’s capped by some and not capped by others. So there! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-moon/209486.md?page=1)