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Tim Chitwood

Posted on Mon, May. 05, 2008

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Lies in a lower case

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If you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it, it's Monday Mail.

You name it.

Readers today are reminded that submitting comments to Monday Mail requires no registration. All submissions are considered worthy of consideration until considered otherwise. It's like giving Crime Stoppers a tip: You don't have to leave your name, and you could be eligible for a reward. As far as you know.

But if you want to keep reading Monday Mail online, you may have to register, as this reader complains:

Hey there Tim,

It was nice to read the online L-E in the morning. Local headlines, obits and especially all the comments folks would leave regarding the various articles.

But now Big Brother has struck again. Imagine my dismay when all of a sudden I'm asked to "sign up"! Oh well... guess it's back to the Atlanta paper for me.

Too bad. So sad.

Dear Sad:

I'd give you my registration, but someone registered me and I can't remember the password.

But I still have access to the site, so apparently you have to register only once, and you don't have to tell the truth. If you find the questions too nosy, lie. Make my readership more diverse by saying you're a 23-year-old woman making more than $100,000 a year in the modeling business.

Divine intervention.

A reader inquires about a report on the recent shooting spree at Doctors Hospital, where we quoted a witness who said, "I was sitting in the back, and I heard somebody: 'Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! Call the police! Oh my god!' " That prompted this:

Please tell me why the word God was spelled with a lowercase "g"? Was this a typographical error or what? In the article that described the shooting at Doctors Hospital, Friday, March 28 (front page), it is implied that those involved in the crisis were attempting to connect with someone of less power... than the Creator. Actually the solution to the problem is reconnection with God.

Please advise,

Patricia Battle

Dear Patricia:

Good question. Let's see what our Associated Press stylebook says about that:

"Capitalize God in all references to the deity of monotheistic religions. Capitalize all noun references to the deity: God the Father, Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit, etc. Lowercase personal pronouns: he, him, thee, thou. Lowercase gods and goddesses in references to the deities of polytheistic religions. Lowercase god, gods and goddesses in references to false gods: 'He made money his god.' Lowercase such words as godawful,... godlike, godliness, godsend."

OK, maybe you're right, and it should have been capitalized, in this context.

But were it an extended Valley Girl "Oh my gah-odd," it would be lowercase, as that's not an appeal to a deity.

Now why do we capitalize "Godzilla"?