August 19, 2008
It’s all about I
Last week, my sister’s boyfriend sent me an article from the New York Times Magazine about the capitalization of the word “I” in English.
Being the grammar goddess (geek?) that I am, I really enjoyed the article and ultimately found myself asking, why DO we capitalize “I”?
Who’s the first person who said, “I find myself so important that I’ve decided to capitalize every single written reference to myself. God does it, why can’t I?”?
According to AP style (which, of course, the Times follows): “In general, avoid unnecessary capitals.”
Hmm … is capitalizing the word “I” really necessary? Would people be totally baffled by a lowercase “i”? Would the word lose its meaning? This writer says no.
Apparently, a small company called Apple agrees with me. They market devices known as the iPod and iPhone. Perhaps you’ve heard of them? Well, from what I understand, Apple has sold a few of these gadgets—despite the fact that their names begin with a lowercase “i”. I guess some people don’t think that capitalizing the word “I” is necessary after all.
note: When I tried to lowercase the word “I” for effect in this post, Microsoft Word automatically capitalized it (and the program did not recognize either “iPod” or “iPhone”). Quite a clear distinction between Mr. Jobs and Mr. Gates on the “I” issue, don’t you think?
Filed by rebecca at 9:05 am under For the love of words
LOL!!
Food for thought because it’s a good point about capitalization, I think! But you won’t see me lowercasing it, unless by mistake.
i always lowercase i in emails and blog comments and IMs and texts. but never in actual writing. maybe over time as our language degenerates it will come to that.
Steph: At least it made you think (and laugh!). As professional writers and editors, I suppose we have to follow the rules (no matter how little sense they make). And if you MS Word, you won’t have to worry about making a mistake with “I” — the program will automatically correct it for you!
Jamie: I think you may be right. Over time (probably not in our lifetime), “I” may very well become “i”. You heard it here first
i think it mak mor sens to not capitaliz word becaus everyon know what you mean
i also think it mak mor sens to leav off the letter “s” and not pluraliz becaus if you want to pluraliz you would put a number in front of the word, or the word som
i also think it mak mor sens to not put “e” on end of word
think of all the saving for typing if we not need to typ extra letter or press shift key all the tim
(seriously though, i think we don’t need to pluralize stuff anymore)
Brett: An interesting theory indeed. But then, how would you pronounce your last name? “Legr”? Sounds French — and scary. “Le Grrrr.” I like it.
Why do we capitalize God for that matter? I don’t, actuallly. Sorry, i don’t actually. In my belief system I don’t put emphasis on a singular omnipotent god, so I don’t put the emphasis on the word. Hmmm…but since I capitalize I does that mean that I believe Myself to be singularly omnipotent?
Urban Panther: You certainly have a point there. I wonder how books and blogs and web sites would look if capitalization was up to the author’s chosen emphasis.
Me, I’d capitalize only my husband’s name, “Dog,” “Chocolate,” and “Vacation” (some of the most important things in my life).
I’m surprised Microsoft Word even allowed you to type the letters “iPod” and “iPhone”.
Wouldn’t Bill have included some code to prevent that?
Friar: I’m sure that by doing so, I set off some silent alarm at MS headquarters. I’m probably being watched as we speak …