Do you capitalize the word “Internet?” And when does a proper name become a common noun?
This is an issue of some importance to all online copywriters. It’s bothered us for some time that Internet remains a proper noun – after all, we don’t capitalize Cable or Water or Electricity. But, like the Internet, they are all piped to the house by a utility.
Internet is not associated with the name of a person (like pasteurization or Darwinism) or a trademarked brand name (like Kodak and Kleenex). It’s not even a singular entity – I get mine from Earthlink. Maybe you get yours from Time Warner.
Furthermore, Internet has become the commonest of common words, reflecting its importance in contemporary society. Its rising usage parallels the decline of words including hi-fi, pager and fax.
All the major reference sources show Internet with a capital “I.” These include:
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
American Heritage Dictionary
Merriam-Webster
Microsoft Word always underlines in green our attempts to use internet instead of Internet. Interestingly, many dictionaries allow Google in lower case, as in “I googled it.”
So what’s up with the Internet? Maybe it’s the word “the” that sometimes precedes it. Makes the Internet feel all special and important. But even that’s fading away. We could correctly say (or write):
Kids today have always had the Internet.
Or:
Kids today have always had internet.
Here at Online-Copywriter, we think the Internet should get off its high horse and admit its commonness. Call it the price of popularity. The sainted William Safire would probably call us permissivists.
Other online copywriters are invited to weigh-in with their own heavy thinking about Internet.
Tags: English, internet, language, online words, usage, web 2.0
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April 17, 2007 at 10:45 am
David G.
Also, consider “email.” Capitalizing the letter “e” is never done except by technology troglodytes (and it looks wierd woo).
Do you have the same advice regarding the “Web” (”web”)? How about when writing the bulky phrase “World Wide Web?”
When does a commonly-available, non-branded technology noun pass from capitalization to pedestrian lower-case?
When writing copy with tech words, I also check current usage in business media, like WSJ, NYT, Forbes, as well as broadly-read tech media like C|NET and CIO, or for a leading look, Wired and Network World.
April 17, 2007 at 10:52 am
hal990
Interesting comments - the capitalization conundrum is pretty widespread with web words, apparently. Got a post coming up later this week about hyphenation.
The fun never stops.
But, yes, absolutely, lowercase everything that seems like a common noun, I think.
April 30, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Dee Ann Chandler
OK, I’m all for abaondoning the capital “I” - anything so I don’t have to shift while keyboarding. But I admit I am rather taken aback that someone posting to a copywriting forum apparently forgot the rule about It and the possessive - no apostrophe. The Internet gets of its high horse and admits its commonness. Let’s do what we can to set an example of how to use the English language and not carry on bad habits or misinformation. Thanks.
April 30, 2007 at 3:55 pm
hal990
Mea culpa. Well-deserved reputation as a horrible proof reader. See previous post about frustrations with MS Word Dictionary.
December 10, 2007 at 11:31 pm
secretagent47
We all need proofreaders behind us. Ms. Chandler typed “gets ‘of’ its high horse,” instead of “gets ‘off’ its high horse.”
March 9, 2008 at 12:11 am
Barbara
While you are at it, please change weigh-in to weigh in. The hyphen makes it a noun. Think pick-up (or pickup) vs. pick up.
March 11, 2008 at 11:48 pm
spell-checer supreme
Tuff crowd!
March 15, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Robert
Should we capitalize “mail”?
Noooooooooo. Then, why email?
Do we capitalize “post office”? Noooooooooooooo.
Then why internet.
April 22, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Barb Blond
What about the word Web? Do you capitalize the W? It is a shortened proper noun for the World Wide Web. I have read style manuals that say to capitalize it, and then even on their sites, use web instead of Web. I only care because I do formal writing.
April 22, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Hal
I don’t usually capitalize “web.”
I do, however, capitalize it in a usage such as “Web 2.0″ or “World Wide Web.” These seem less like generic terms so they get the proper name treatment.
April 23, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Alicia
You capitalize the ‘PM’ for 7:00 PM, correct?
April 23, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Hal
Yes, I capitalize PM.
No, I never used periods as in “P.M.”
I usually observe a space between numbers & letters, as in “8:30 PM.”
Situationally, I may use lower case – for example, on a calendar I may write “830a” as an abbreviation for 8:30 AM.
All questions welcome.
About language, that is :)
December 3, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Mark
So, where does this stand today? More than two years after the original post. I was required to capitalize Internet throughout all 4 years of college, and continue to do so. I dislike it when the word email is capitalized or hyphenated, however I have been programmed to require Internet be capitalized.