🚀 go-pugleaf

Duggy wrote:
> On Dec 11, 9:42 am, "John Dean" <john-d...@fraglineone.net> wrote:
>> A-Yuh
>> The Brit broadcaster Channel Five rebranded itself as five not long
>> ago.
>
> Once again, that's branding, but doesn't change the way the language
> works.

The language works the way people choose to make it work

>
> They can use the "five" as much as they want to it's still "Channel 5
> Broadcasting Limited".  It branded itself as "Channel 5" for a long
> time, it was still "Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited".
>
> The trade name and the trademark/branding are two different things.

Sure. And if they wanted to rename the company 'five' no-one could stop 
them.
>
> And they don't change the rules of English.

You make it sound as if these "rules of English" are all written down 
somewhere and universally agreed.
Ideas change, fashions change, styles change and, above all, opinions of 
what is good, best or right change also.
I don't much care for the Guardian's approach to capitalisation, but they 
are likely to win ground as the years pass:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/styleguide/page/0,,184841,00.html

"capitals
Times have changed since the days of medieval manuscripts with elaborate 
hand-illuminated capital letters, or Victorian documents in which not just 
proper names, but virtually all nouns, were given initial caps (a Tradition 
valiantly maintained to this day by Estate Agents).

A look through newspaper archives would show greater use of capitals the 
further back you went. The tendency towards lower case, which in part 
reflects a less formal, less deferential society, has been accelerated by 
the explosion of the internet: some net companies, and many email users, 
have dispensed with capitals altogether.

Our style reflects these developments. We aim for coherence and consistency, 
but not at the expense of clarity. As with any aspect of style, it is 
impossible to be wholly consistent - there are almost always exceptions, so 
if you are unsure check for an individual entry in this guide."
-- 
John Dean
Oxford