TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
|
| <<I do not think that it has anything to do with whether using the
| Internet is commonplace. IMHO, you take the train (not the Train)
| because there are any number of trains. On the other hand, you use the
| Internet (not the internet) because there is only one of it. (Just as
| you cannot say "an internet".) Internet does not descrbe a category of
| things, it is a proper name of a unique entity.>>
|
| Agreed, it's something there is only one of, so that you can't choose
| among various internets, as you can choose among various trains. But by
| that figuring, wouldn't you have to capitalize "air," since you have to
| say "the air"? Then, again, there's the air in the city and the air in
| the country -- which are very different things.
|
It isn't using the article to signify a single entity that matters -- it's
that "Internet" is the *proper name* of the thing. I think also that the
"highway" metaphor can aid in understanding why it's capitalized. When you
name a particular highway, you cap it.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
A new book on Single Sourcing has been released by William Andrew
Publishing: _Single Sourcing: Building Modular Documentation_
is now available at: http://www.williamandrew.com/titles/1491.html.
Order RoboHelp X3 today and receive a $100 mail in rebate and a FREE
WebHelp Merge Module for merging multiple Help systems on any desktop
or server. Order online today at http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
