As you probably know, I’ve been keeping a list of word ‘tired‘ words, words that I think are either mis-used, unclear, outdated, or something like that.
One of the words I put on the list is ‘Internet’ (read about it here).
Well, I’m a writer at heart and I remember once fighting over the capitalization of ‘Internet’, arguing that it’s a place we go to (that was about 7 years ago). Nonetheless, I’ve seen the word many times written with a small letter ‘internet’ and that’s got me wondering if it’s time for me to demote Internet as a place to internet as plumbing. I’m working on trying to stop calling it ‘the Internet’, and calling it just ‘internet’, in the same way we don’t say ‘the Electricity’.
And lately, I’ve stopped trying to have a concept of what internet is, and just live and breath in a world where internet is a utility.
Eh, to some of you, tired of my semantics, that might not be much. But, to me, it’s a change worth noting.
Now, how does the meaning and capitalization of the word ‘Web’ fit into all this. 🙂
I’ve argued this point for years. Three years ago, Wired agreed with me.
http://www.odannyboy.com/blog/archives/001013.html
By all means, but call it “the internet”.
> I’m working on trying to stop calling it ‘the Internet’, and calling it just ‘internet’, in the same way we don’t say ‘the Electricity’.
True, but you say “my house is wired to the electricity network” not “my house is wired to electricity network”.
“In English grammar, proper nouns are capitalized, although some analogous things, which are unique yet distributed, such as “the power grid”, “the telephone network”, and even “the sky”, are not considered proper nouns, and are thus not capitalized.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_capitalization_conventions
“Others assert that the first letter should be in lower case (internet), and that the specific article “the” is sufficient to distinguish “the internet” from other internets.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet#The_name_Internet
Ever the grammarian. 🙂
Yes, when I use it as a as you describe, then I also feel compelled to call it ‘the internet’.
But, just like there are times we just say ‘electricity’, there are times we just say ‘internet’.