h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

So who would you start a sentence with my name, Zens? And how would you use it in the middle of a sentence?

How.

Oh dear, what have I started!

I'm not a Zen, of course, but I tend to word sentences in such a way that I don't have to worry about capitalising lower case names, kea

Don't worry parrferris, it's an interesting discussion. Kea, to answer your question I would capitalise your name at the start of a sentence but not half way through.

"H2g2 works at the start of a sentence doesn't it?"

It certainly does!

I was going to suggest it myself - after all that's what we do in English
(not capitalising every other letter, as our leader fears) - but kea beat me to it.

Oops!

Hello, leader.

I'm not sure "h2g2" really follows normal English rules. It's an alphanumeric string rather than an acronym or abbreviation or initialism.

What about lower-case brand names? They don't get capitalized at the beginning of sentences.

I think official capitalisation of h2g2 is a matter that is so important that we will have to refer to The Man who Knew Douglas. I shall contact Robbie forthwith and ask him to create an official dikat on the matter.

And I think it is our Right as Free Spirits to capitalise it any way we choose!

Actually, joking aside, it's one of the quirks of the site, and I like the fact it can be done either and any way.

B

I wasn't around when it was H2G2, but joined when it was h2g2. It's been h2g2 for the more than eight years I've been here, and I think it looks very friendly. If we're stuck with H2G2 (which requires me to hit caps each time I type it), then so be it. I'd prefer h2g2, though. Much easier to type.

"What about lower-case brand names? They don't get capitalized at the beginning of sentences."

That doesn't appear to be universally true. I haven't taken the time to look thoroughly, but the first few companies with lower case logos I tested, all capitalised initial letters... at least at the beginning of sentences:

facebook = Facebook

xerox = Xerox

citybank = Citybank

intel = Intel


I think the reason is aesthetic. We expect sentences to begin with a capital letter, and it looks decidedly odd when they don't.

While I prefer the lower case aesthetically, my main problem with the capitals is like Bel, it's just a pain to type.

However, I'd live with that if we can get rid of the name barlesque. Despite the zillion times I've had to type that in the last 9 months, I still have to stop and think to get the letters in the right order

Then from this day hence "Barlesque" shall be known by the pseudonym of "burk"

PF, thanks for bringing it up!


"It's a return to our roots - see the section "Using Capital Letters" in A41950046."

No, it's not! h2g2(!) has been "h2g2" right from the start - A5879.
A41950046 is an updated version of A266131 where you won't find anything about "H2G2". And even though A41950046 was created in October 2008, it was last updated 17 January 2011, the day burk and the new name was first presented. (<./>Announcements</.&gt

(Or even A27)

...and you can't go much further back than that!

>> That doesn't appear to be universally true. I haven't taken the time to look thoroughly, but the first few companies with lower case logos I tested, all capitalised initial letters... at least at the beginning of sentences:

I'm about to say something that may forever disqualify me from serving as a Subeditor on noohootoo: it depends.

Quite a number of companies have joined the lower case brand name trend. In another 25-30 years they might switch back again. Just because a company's logo has changed does not mean that the company name has changed. The Xerox Corp's logo has gone from XEROX to xerox very recently.

Grammar tells us to capitalize proper nouns and the first letter in a sentence. Brand names and company names are considered proper nouns, and the Xerox and Intel corporations would agree. In a business letter and a newspaper article, the brand names Xerox and Intel would be capitalized.

Marketing tells us to stick to the branding, so it might be entirely appropriate for a brochure to begin a sentence with logo, even a lowercase one. In the bad old days, if the copywriter didn't have the client's graphics file to use, there was always boldface type.

The current trend toward branding with lowercase logos may be influenced by domain names, which are right there at the edge of our visual field, in all their lowercase glory.