battlemaiden Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Word people invited to answer...:D Wouldn't planet be the noun, and earth the proper noun? I'm sure I'm missing something obvious. Thanks for learnin' me. ;) Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 If one is using the word earth as in dirt, soil, etc then it would not be capitalised. If one is calling the planet by it's name, then it should be capitalised. "He picked up a handful of earth." "Earth is the 3rd planet from the Sun." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 (edited) I think it's one of those holdover words. It's considered generic because we don't know of any other planets which people can be from. There is only one planet to be born on and that is the earth. Therefore, we are born on the earth. However, it *is* capitalized when you are actually discussing planetary bodies. Crazy language. And momma-Its name is not usually capitalized when speaking generically of the earth. It's one of the strange quirks of our language. eta references: http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/Capitalizing-Proper-Nouns.aspx http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Manual_of_Style/Archive_(capitalization) (using this only because this page cites several references) Edited July 8, 2009 by Mrs Mungo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annabanana1992 Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 I always wondered why seasons are capitalized either... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 I think it's one of those holdover words. It's considered generic because we don't know of any other planets which people can be from. There is only one planet to be born on and that is the earth. Therefore, we are born on the earth. However, it *is* capitalized when you are actually discussing planetary bodies. Crazy language. And momma-Its name is not usually capitalized when speaking generically of the earth. It's one of the strange quirks of our language. I'm a sci-fi freak; Earth is never spoken of generically in my world :lol: (thank you for the correction ;) ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 I'm a sci-fi freak; Earth is never spoken of generically in my world :lol: (thank you for the correction ;) ) I'm also a sci-fi freak! :D One entire bookshelf in my house is sci-fi. :blush: In fact, that's the main reason I know this. My eldest asked me about it when she started reading sci-fi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikeBookBread Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 This question one of the reasons why I can't pull myself away from The Boards! I learned something today that I didn't know before...and had fun doing it. So in a book by a sci-fi author, earth is Earth, but in a book by Jane Austen, should she ever have referred to the planet earth, it would be earth?! :lol::lol::lol::lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 This question one of the reasons why I can't pull myself away from The Boards! I learned something today that I didn't know before...and had fun doing it. So in a book by a sci-fi author, earth is Earth, but in a book by Jane Austen, should she ever have referred to the planet earth, it would be earth?! :lol::lol::lol::lol: I think if you are not located on the earth then it is Earth, without the article. I think that's the rule. Kind of crazy, I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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