Washington--capital (sic)?

[Spektator]

Why did Randi place the (sic) after the word "capital" in his commentary? Washington really is the capital of the U.S. It's where the Capitol building is located, after all.

[paiute]

Why did Randi place the (sic) after the word "capital" in his commentary? Washington really is the capital of the U.S. It's where the Capitol building is located, after all.

I do not presume to know Randi's reason, but I present the following in the interest of etymological elucidation:

Capital: from the Latin capitālis, from caput, head, money laid out

Capitol: from the Latin Capitōlium, after Capitōlīnus, Capitoline, the hill on which Jupiter's temple stood

[Hellbound]

Washington is not the capital of the U.S. It is, however, the capitol of the U.S.

"sic" essentially means he didn't change the original spelling. Randi is simply drawing attention to the fact that the original source used the incorrect spelling/word. and he left it unchanged. Standard practice in quoting.

[Spektator]

However, as the American Heritage Dictionary elucidates in its first definition of the word "capital" (with an a), the word means "A town or city that is the official seat of government in a political entity, such as a state or nation." Sic, which perhaps I should loosely elucidate as Latin for "thus," is most often today used in the loose sense, "behold! I found this error!" So I wonder what the error was, unless Randi was thinking that capitol (meaning a building) was the correct spelling for capital (meaning a city that is the seat of government).

Edited to add: Fowler's English Usage notes that it is never proper to use "capitol" to refer to a city that is the seat of government; one must always use "capital" for that. Who am I to argue with Fowler?

[roger]

The US Government thinks it should be Capital.

http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/print/us.html (scroll down a bit)

[Hellbound]

Interesting. I stand corrected.

Well, sit, actually, but you get the point :)

[Spektator]

Thank you, roger. Huntsman, paiute, I want you both to know that I admire both of you as individuals, and I particularly treasure the cogency and clarity of Huntsman's posts, never ever confusing them with posts by another contributor of somewhat similar nomenclature, so it is entirely within a spirit of scholarly camaraderie and respect that I say "neener neener neener."

[tsg]

Why did Randi place the (sic) after the word "capital" in his commentary? Washington really is the capital of the U.S. It's where the Capitol building is located, after all.

"sic" technically means "as I found it", not necessarily that there is anything wrong with it, but it does carry some implication of error.

But, yeah, I was taught it is "capital" if it is the city and "capitol" if it is the building. Not that that means anything. I was taught a lot of stuff that turned out to be Just Plain WrongTM.

[Spektator]

Well, my original point, or perhaps I should say blunt protuberance, since it really wasn't much of a point to begin with, was mainly to wonder if Randi were making a joke--as much as to say, "THESE guys may think Washington, DC, is running our country, but to my mind, the gang of morons contained within the DC city limits couldn't run a faucet if they had someone to turn the handle for them."

However, I always have a weakness for getting drawn into linguistic commentaries. Could be worse, I suppose. I could go in for attempted telekinesis or petty vandalism instead.

[Kimpatsu]

Washington is not the capital of the U.S. It is, however, the capitol of the U.S.

"sic" essentially means he didn't change the original spelling. Randi is simply drawing attention to the fact that the original source used the incorrect spelling/word. and he left it unchanged. Standard practice in quoting.
Then Randi is wrong. Every city that is the national seat of government is the capital; the Capitol refers only to capitals that call their seats of governemnt by that name.
London is ver ymuch the capital of the UK, and Tokyo the capital of Japan.
I thinlk it would be capital if everyone knew this...

[Hellbound]

Then Randi is wrong. Every city that is the national seat of government is the capital; the Capitol refers only to capitals that call their seats of governemnt by that name.
London is ver ymuch the capital of the UK, and Tokyo the capital of Japan.
I thinlk it would be capital if everyone knew this...

You're a bit late to the party, we already figured that out :)

[Chaos]

I am the only one to wonder why "capital" isn´t capitalized?

[7th sextile]

Spektator: Jeff Wagg (webmaster) has in the past requested that we
shoot him a PM or email when we find errata in the commentary.
(He has no problem with posting about them here,but he'd like
to be informed directly also ,so he can get them fixed).Thanks.

I heard this one as a kid and it works for me :think of the "o"
in "Capitol" as a porthole which is a kind of window,which would be
on a building.

[Hellbound]

Personally, I think we need to scrap English and start over. It's just too d@mn confusing :)

I thought capitol with an o always referred to the political idea, and capital with an a for momney or other matters. Of course, we have to mix em around a bunch.

Personally, I think it was a GLOBALIST plot to make me look stupid.

And, d@mmit, it worked ;)

[Spektator]

Spektator: Jeff Wagg (webmaster) has in the past requested that we
shoot him a PM or email when we find errata in the commentary.
(He has no problem with posting about them here,but he'd like
to be informed directly also ,so he can get them fixed).Thanks.

I heard this one as a kid and it works for me :think of the "o"
in "Capitol" as a porthole which is a kind of window,which would be
on a building.

I'd do that if I were sure it was an error--I really thought it might be a joke on Randi's part that I just wasn't getting. Sometimes I can be pretty oblivious. That's why I'm mostly just a spectator.

[kittynh]

well there is historic use.

And I was born in the Nations Capitol

[Spektator]

well there is historic use.

And I was born in the Nations Capitol
Without the apostrophe too, eh?