# Use of a capital 'S' as the last letter of a noun or Proper Name **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [May 19, 2023, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-a-capital-s-as-the-last-letter-of-a-noun-or-proper-name/984296 "2023-05-19T20:09:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2023, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-a-capital-s-as-the-last-letter-of-a-noun-or-proper-name/984296/1 "2023-05-19T20:09:24Z")
I have seen recently movie titles as well as plain old nouns where the last letter is ‘S’ and it is strangely and inexplicably capitalized when the other letters are not. Let’s sat the word was ‘tarantulas’. They would spell it ‘TarantulaS’. Does anyone here know what this means/signifies and could they please let me in on the joke? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2023, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-a-capital-s-as-the-last-letter-of-a-noun-or-proper-name/984296/2 "2023-05-19T20:11:34Z")
Could you give some real examples? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2023, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-a-capital-s-as-the-last-letter-of-a-noun-or-proper-name/984296/3 "2023-05-19T20:31:16Z")
I suspect it is just a stylization of the text for appearance. Like how the posters for Zardoz have the “RD” large. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2023, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-a-capital-s-as-the-last-letter-of-a-noun-or-proper-name/984296/4 "2023-05-19T20:42:23Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I suspect it is just a stylization of the text for appearance. Agreed; barring any specific examples, I’d assume it’s just a stylistic choice for the logo. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2023, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-a-capital-s-as-the-last-letter-of-a-noun-or-proper-name/984296/5 "2023-05-19T20:44:45Z")
Can you show some examples of these movie titles? I have never seen a title spelled like that. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2023, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-a-capital-s-as-the-last-letter-of-a-noun-or-proper-name/984296/6 "2023-05-19T21:56:30Z")
I know that I saw one on Tuesday or Wednesday… and before I even created this thread, I searched to find it again… but I was not successful. It may well just have been oddly stylized… but if it had a meaning I wanted to research it and find it. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2023, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-a-capital-s-as-the-last-letter-of-a-noun-or-proper-name/984296/7 "2023-05-19T22:03:49Z")
This has been done with some professional sports wordmarks over the years. The San Francisco Giants baseball team, for example, used the logo below in the 1980s and early 1990s. The stylized “GIANTS” as it appears below was also used on their home white uniforms. [![](https://content.sportslogos.net/logos/54/74/full/h1wtplsqu22t4jwu5kmnyuefv.png) ](https://content.sportslogos.net/logos/54/74/full/h1wtplsqu22t4jwu5kmnyuefv.png) ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2023, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-a-capital-s-as-the-last-letter-of-a-noun-or-proper-name/984296/8 "2023-05-19T22:04:45Z")
All the letters there are capitalized. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2023, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-a-capital-s-as-the-last-letter-of-a-noun-or-proper-name/984296/9 "2023-05-19T22:17:33Z")
Yes, but there’s a font size difference. Maybe what I saw then ( but can’t produce now, I’m sorry to say ) was a stylized homage to the SF Giants? ( Hey, I just wanted to check. Sorry. Look, no one wants to have, “You don’t know that, you miserable old Fudd? When the H— were you born? Way back in the 20th century? OK, Boomer… wipe off the dust & smell the coffee” slammed in their faces. ) ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2023, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-a-capital-s-as-the-last-letter-of-a-noun-or-proper-name/984296/10 "2023-05-19T22:21:14Z")
The S being large isn’t inexplicable. It’s to make the logo more symmetrical. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2023, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-a-capital-s-as-the-last-letter-of-a-noun-or-proper-name/984296/11 "2023-05-19T22:29:40Z")
This. It’s also possible, I suppose, that the larger G and S are meant to symbolize “Golden State,” one of California’s nicknames. It may also be worth noting that that’s not the team’s current logo; [SportsLogos.net](https://www.sportslogos.net/logos/list_by_team/74/san_francisco_giants/) indicates that, as @bordelond notes, that version was used from 1983 through 1993; their current logo doesn’t have the oversized G and S: [![](https://content.sportslogos.net/logos/54/74/full/san_francisco_giants_logo_primary_20002208.png) ](https://content.sportslogos.net/logos/54/74/full/san_francisco_giants_logo_primary_20002208.png) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2023, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-a-capital-s-as-the-last-letter-of-a-noun-or-proper-name/984296/12 "2023-05-19T22:46:43Z")
There’s this movie, but it’s just the same thing as the Giants logo: [![](https://i.imgur.com/OsscJRT.png) ](https://i.imgur.com/OsscJRT.png) And then there’s this movie, which is doing for letters other than “S”, but is definitely using caps for the last letter with lowercase in-between: [![](https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSO2GGkUHz-drAGwpwwvV19yRMxztXS7BLSe21WjUPqoqS5F8Qh) ](https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSO2GGkUHz-drAGwpwwvV19yRMxztXS7BLSe21WjUPqoqS5F8Qh) Seens like a pretty normal stylistic choice, really. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2023, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-a-capital-s-as-the-last-letter-of-a-noun-or-proper-name/984296/13 "2023-05-19T22:58:31Z")
The designers where I worked, way back in the day, were amused by the “First and last letter large” fad. We called it “ **M** an From Snowy Rive **R** type”. [![](https://www.allaboutmovies.com.au/media/k2/items/cache/2e6a1da3baa6c252b9a9199726b35431_XL.jpg) ](https://www.allaboutmovies.com.au/media/k2/items/cache/2e6a1da3baa6c252b9a9199726b35431_XL.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-a-capital-s-as-the-last-letter-of-a-noun-or-proper-name/984296/14 "2023-05-20T01:15:24Z")
> [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](#): > > ( Hey, I just wanted to check. Sorry. Look, no one wants to have, > “You don’t know that, you miserable old Fudd? When the H— were you born? > Way back in the 20th century? OK, Boomer… wipe off the dust & smell the coffee” > slammed in their faces. ) Just replace every ending s with a z and you’ll be hip. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-a-capital-s-as-the-last-letter-of-a-noun-or-proper-name/984296/15 "2023-05-20T12:17:56Z")
And then there’s Se7en. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-a-capital-s-as-the-last-letter-of-a-noun-or-proper-name/984296/16 "2023-05-20T12:43:31Z")
That’s just a stylized way to write sesevenen. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-a-capital-s-as-the-last-letter-of-a-noun-or-proper-name/984296/17 "2023-05-20T14:37:54Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Se7en Aarggh, that reminds me of L33Tspeak, where nerds thought they were SO edgy by replacing letters with numbers. Oh, and _leet_ was short for _elite …_ Hey, snooty nerds! When I was a child, the house across the street had the address 8O2O, and I always thought of it as The BOZO house. Thirty years before you acted like you invented a whole new language. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-a-capital-s-as-the-last-letter-of-a-noun-or-proper-name/984296/18 "2023-05-20T14:41:58Z")
A good movie; morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt. It might even be where Gwyneth Paltrow came up with ‘Goop’. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-a-capital-s-as-the-last-letter-of-a-noun-or-proper-name/984296/19 "2023-05-20T15:10:47Z")
WHAT’S IN THE BOX?!?!?! Yes, great.