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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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While Mecca is a proper noun, when referring to the city in Saudi Arabia, it is also used as a common noun, as in "Reno is a mecca for gamblers" or "the skiing mecca of the US is Jackson Hole." When a proper place name becomes a common noun, is it still properly captialized or does one use the lower case to distinguish it from the actual city?
Also, is this usage in any way offensive to Muslims?
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Joined: Jul 2002
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 742 |
I can't answer for its offensiveness or otherwise, but here it is used lower case to distinguish from the city.
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Joined: Mar 2003
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stranger
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stranger
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I vaguely remember hearing that muslims get annoyed by the lower case usage. I don't recall the source, though.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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they must've lost the copyright battle, eh?
formerly known as etaoin...
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Dec 2000
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> Also, is this usage in any way offensive to Muslims?
None I know, though I guess it depends on the context. If you said "India is a mecca for sex tourism", then you've been pretty careless and slipped into well, let's say insensitive terrain. AFAIK, though it's fine otherwise. BTW, the lower case version makes sense to me.
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Joined: Mar 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Here you go, Father Steve: backup from an "official" source (I've added the bold face):
Specific geographical locations: Hartford, Connecticut, Africa, Forest Park Zoo, Lake Erie, the Northeast, the Southend. However, we do not capitalize compass directions or locations that aren't being used as names: the north side of the city; we're leaving the Northwest and heading south this winter. http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/capitals.htm
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Joined: Oct 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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yeah, but jackie, i can't think of any city/state/or other specific place that has become also a generic word..
even in common experessions like "we're(you're) not in Kansas anymore", refers to Kansas in particular and not just the hicks
Attitude adjustments are done with Lou'ville sluggers.. not lou'vill sluggers..
can you come up with an example of a place that is so identified with a idea that the word has ceased to be capitalized?
Not even a NY minute, or Philadelphia lawyer get lower case. Why should Mecca be different?
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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Individuals seen wearing both a white belt and white shoes are sometimes described as wearing a "full Cleveland" -- in which the municipal name is capitalized.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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In reply to:
yeah, but jackie, i can't think of any city/state/or other specific place that has become also a generic word..
China v. china?
Incidentally there used to be (and maybe still is) a chain of bingo halls in Britain called Mecca, owned if I remember correctly by the Morleys who started the Miss World contest. Somehow I suspect that doesn't go down too well.
Bingley
Bingley
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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put a little english on the ball...
or perhaps a french kiss?
formerly known as etaoin...
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