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Subject:Re: Fall or fall?? From:Bill Burns <WBURNS -at- VAX -dot- MICRON -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 1 Aug 1995 08:16:33 MDT
Bob writes:
>In the past, dictionaries which I have used make the point that "Fall" as a
>season is capitalized. You should note that neither spring, summer, nor
>winter is to be captilized -- except, or course, at the beginning of a
>sentence.
Hmmm, haven't ever seen this distinction. I was quite surprised at the
rationale behind this (the biblical reference). When "fall" is used in
reference to the original lapse, it is capitalized. But the season, according
to the OED, is a metonym for "the fall of the leaf" (Compact ed., p. 953).
These two uses are quite divergent, so I don't think that rationale would
wash.
CMoS indicates that fall is NOT capitalized (14th ed., p. 264 or sec. 7.74).
In the past, I've seen "fall" (and the other seasons) capitalized when they
are used to speak of the season in general: "Fall comes soon." When it is
used with a demonstrative, it isn't capitalized: "This fall, I'm going to
New England." I'm not sure if this distinction is documented anywhere, and I
cannot attest to its validity.
Bill Burns *
Assm. Technical Writer/Editor * LIBERTY, n. One of imagination's most
Micron Technology, Inc. * precious possessions.
Boise, ID *
WBURNS -at- VAX -dot- MICRON -dot- COM * Ambrose Bierce
