GalacticCactus Forum
Forums => English & Linguistics => Topic started by: Jonathon on February 18, 2008, 01:05:15 PM
-
I have a question about some capitalization that I frequently see on the forums that I don't understand. There's probably no way to ask this without sounding like I think everyone who does it is stupid or ill-educated, but I'm honestly curious and am not trying to be condescending or judgmental.
So here goes: why does (almost) everyone write "Happy Birthday," regardless of where it appears in the sentence, rather than "Happy birthday" or "happy birthday"?
-
Because we have been brainwashed by Hallmark.
-
I will sometimes capitalize the first letters of Very Important Things for emphasis. Happy Birthday falls into that category.
-
Because we have been brainwashed by Hallmark.
Because "Happy Birthday" is always capitalized on Hallmark cards?
-
Because we have been brainwashed by Hallmark.
Because "Happy Birthday" is always capitalized on Hallmark cards?
Pretty sure. Haven't bought any in ages, but that's my recollection. Except when it's in all caps.
Also, usually followed by at least one exclamation point.
-
I would capitalize it for the same reason I capitalize Independence Day, Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving, and Merry Christmas. I also think it can be capitalized for the same reasons we capitalize the names of the days of the week, if we do so.
Do we?
-
We Do*!
*For days ending in a "y".
-
But even if people are capitalizing "birthday" by analogy of holidays and days of the week (which, to be honest, still doesn't make sense to me), that doesn't explain why "happy" is capitalized, too (when it's not the beginning of a sentence).
-
Because "Happy Birthday!" is an introjective phrase, I'd guess. I don't see it as one of the great offenses against English. But I guess you're also welcome to not captilize it.
-
Introjective?
I never said it was one of the great offenses against English. I'm just a little weirded out that there is such perfect consistency in its capitalization. It's like at some point everybody decided to capitalize it, but I missed the memo.
-
*sends Jonathon the memo*
-
I'm just a little weirded out that there is such perfect consistency in its capitalization. It's like at some point everybody decided to capitalize it, but I missed the memo.
I was partly kidding, but I was also serious. Look at the Google Images results (http://images.google.com/images?q=%22happy+birthday%22&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=lwB&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=images&ct=title) for "happy birthday": lots of all caps and the occasional all lower case, but lots and lots of Happy Birthday. That's what everyone sees on cards, balloons, cakes, etc.
Also, it's a song title.
-
Actually, that would be "Happy Birthday to You."
-
Officially, sure. What do most people call it in casual conversation?
-
The "Happy Birthday" song.
-
Your witness. :D
-
Okay. I guess it doesn't matter what the official title is if everyone thinks it's something else.
-
Descriptivist. ;)
-
Yeah, but I still think all you "Happy Birthday" capitalizers are wrong, so what does that make me?
-
Probably right. ;)
-
But then why should Merry Christmas and Happy New Year be capitalized? Neither "Merry" nor "Happy" is actually part of the name of the holiday. "New Year" by itself doesn't really describe anything.
-
Who said they should be capitalized? (Well, obviously, "Christmas" should be capitalized, but probably not "new year," since it seems to me that it's referring to the actual year and not the holiday of New Year's Day.)
-
Well, it just depends on whether you want to be proscriptivist or descriptivist about it. It just seems like if one wants to start insisting that English make sense, there are bigger fish to fry. I'm not sure what I'd consider to be the biggest fish, though. It's a bit like saying that there are too many daisies on the emporer's ducky swim ring.
-
If I got to choose which fish to fry, I don't know if I'd start with removing pointless (IMO) rules (such as not ending a sentence with a preposition, less vs. fewer, obliteration of the word whom), or spelling.
-
Well, it just depends on whether you want to be proscriptivist or descriptivist about it. It just seems like if one wants to start insisting that English make sense, there are bigger fish to fry. I'm not sure what I'd consider to be the biggest fish, though. It's a bit like saying that there are too many daisies on the emporer's ducky swim ring.
You asked why holiday greetings should be capitalized, which in my mind is another way of saying, "What is the prescription for capitalizing holiday greetings?" Why don't you tell me? There isn't one that I am aware of.
-
Everyone is already doing it. I'm not the one taking the proscriptivist tack.
Is it proscriptive or prescriptive?
-
Pre.
-
Google fight tells me I'm wrong, but that I'm far from alone. :)
-
Proscriptive is a word, too. It's not the same as prescriptive, though.