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Subject:English/english From:"Segal, Betty S." <bss3 -at- PHPMTS1 -dot- EM -dot- CDC -dot- GOV> Date:Sun, 7 Aug 1994 15:10:00 EST
Regarding the thread on whether it is becoming acceptable to use lowercase
for English as an adjective, Caglet wrote on Aug 5:
"I don't have the book at hand, but I think the (U.S.) Government Style
Manual lowercases English, American, etc. . . ."
MY edition (1984) of the -GPO Style Manual_ says:
(page 23) "3.4 Derivatives of proper names used with acquired independent
common meaning, or no loger identified with such names, are lowercased. Since
this depends upon general and long-continued usage, a more defininate and all
in-clusive rule cannot be formulated in advance. A list of derivatives is
given on pages 43-44.
"roman (type) macadam (crushed rock) italicize
brussels sprouts watt (electric unit) anglicize
venetian blinds plaster of paris pasteurize"
The list on pages 43-44 does not contain any formation with _english_.
