Quizzes & Puzzles0 min ago
Spring. Or Spring?
41 Answers
Standard reference works list 'spring' as a common noun, which does not, therefore, take a capital letter, so "I love the Spring" is wrong, but "I love the spring" is correct.
I prefer George Orwell's admonition to disregard any of the above rules if they result in poor English (not about Spring, but you get my drift).
If I write "I prefer the spring", it's not inconceivable that I like a coil of metal wire that goes boing when you push it. But if I write "I prefer the Spring", there is less ambiguity.
Anyone want to argue?
No, sorry, I mean are there any different views?
BB
I prefer George Orwell's admonition to disregard any of the above rules if they result in poor English (not about Spring, but you get my drift).
If I write "I prefer the spring", it's not inconceivable that I like a coil of metal wire that goes boing when you push it. But if I write "I prefer the Spring", there is less ambiguity.
Anyone want to argue?
No, sorry, I mean are there any different views?
BB
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I think as ‘to google’ has so rapidly become a verb, it should be lower case. Capitalising it gives it unwarranted importance!
And going back to Buenchico’s points, I would rather every writer followed Orwell’s rules for writing good English (and apologies for the cut/paste):
1. Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything barbarous.
Particularly no.6...
And going back to Buenchico’s points, I would rather every writer followed Orwell’s rules for writing good English (and apologies for the cut/paste):
1. Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything barbarous.
Particularly no.6...
.. "I would rather every writer followed Orwell’s rules for writing good English" ..
With a statement like that, you are really leaving yourself wide open.
Someone with such high demands of others must read their original post and then agree, that it is classed as poor form to start a sentence with the word 'I' .. ?
Good english .. has gone downthe pan.
With a statement like that, you are really leaving yourself wide open.
Someone with such high demands of others must read their original post and then agree, that it is classed as poor form to start a sentence with the word 'I' .. ?
Good english .. has gone downthe pan.
Funnily enough, I came across this conundrum yesterday when posting on another forum.
Yes, putting a capital letter on spring can avoid ambiguity in certain contexts, otherwise, using the lowercase 's' should suffice.
If I were to say: "In spring and summer...", the context is unambiguous, but saying: "Daffodils spring up in Spring" might be the way to go!
Yes, putting a capital letter on spring can avoid ambiguity in certain contexts, otherwise, using the lowercase 's' should suffice.
If I were to say: "In spring and summer...", the context is unambiguous, but saying: "Daffodils spring up in Spring" might be the way to go!
