Intellectual 'PROPERTY'

From: Jim Battle <frustum_at_pacbell.net>
Date: Sun Jan 19 23:14:00 2003

At 08:53 PM 1/19/03 -0800, Eric Smith wrote:
>Eric Chomko wrote:
> > I dunno. I think that in the context where the term "Native American"
> > is, the word "American" is always proceeded by a capitalized adjective.
>
>I am unaware of any rule of spelling or grammar that causes a capitalized
>adjective to have a different meaning than the same word without
>capitalization.

Perhaps no rule, but there are certainly some specific cases. Here's a
simple example:

         1) We are thankful that he showed mercy

         2) We are thankful that He showed mercy

You have no idea whom I'm talking about in case 1, but case 2 is very specific.

>Of three dictionaries I've consulted, none give a special
>meaning for "Native" as distinct from "native". Two of them imply that
>"American" should be capitalized, but the third does not.
>
> > Now I'm not sure about the forms that you've been looking at, but
> > are you a native American or a Native American?
>
>Yes, I am.

If you look up the meaning of each word you can't decipher the true meaning
of the phrase. As you are well aware, English has thousands of idioms.

Go to "www.m-w.com" (merriam-webster), and type "native american", not just
one word, and it will say it is a synonym for "american indian".

Click on "american indian" and it says:

: a member of any of the aboriginal peoples of the western hemisphere
except usually the Eskimos; especially : an American Indian of North
America and especially the U.S.

-----
Jim Battle == frustum_at_pacbell.net
Received on Sun Jan 19 2003 - 23:14:00 GMT