Hiya!
I've been quite busy lately, but I have a tiny little excuse, my second son Markus was born two weeks ago! I'm super happy! Now that I have found some me time, I can continue writing this entry, which I started before the birth of my child.
In my previous entry, I wrote about capitonyms, that is, words whose meaning changes if the first letter is capitalized. Today's post will continue to delve into this English quirk, and, what is more, this post will be even funnier as it will explore capitonyms that are proper nouns or surnames, in other words, you'll get to learn the real meaning behind some English names and surnames...Keep in mind that there are tons of examples, but I just chose the ones that I find more reporesentative. Let's start:
- Colours: Colours in capital letters refer to surnames: White, Blue, Black and Green are well-known surnames.
- Daisy vs daisy:
The lower-case 'daisy' depicts a flower. The capital Daisy is a proper noun, Donald's partner. 'Daisy doesn't really like daisies'.
- Herb vs herb
Herb might be a man's proper noun in English yet not so common in Spanish (Gervasio). The meaning is linked to medicinal plants. We can produce a sentence saying: "Herb likes herbs."
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| From: https://www.canstockphoto.com/big-set-of-realistic-culinary-herbs-49398659.html |
- Bill bs bill
Do you remember Bill Clinton, one of the most controversial US presidents? His name in lower case letters: 'bill' may refer to the total amount of money you pay in a restaurant, or even the proposal of a future law. Let's imagine a sentence like: "Bill asked for the bill."
- Cat vs cat
The lower-case cat is the dog's archenemy. The capital Cat is a hypochorism of the noun Catherine. I guess you could say: 'Cat has a very big cat'.
- Mike vs mike
This is probable my favourite, as it refers to my name and my son's name. 'Mike' is the hypochorism for 'Michael', whereas 'mike' is another abbreviation of the word 'microphone' in informal English. Here you can see both words: 'Mike grabbed the mike and answered the question.'
- Sue vs sue
'Sue' is Susan's hypochorism. The word 'sue' with a small 's' means turning to legal action. 'Sue decided to sue the man that attacked her.'
- Will vs will
'Will' is the hypochorism for 'William', whereas 'will' is the well-known modal verb to express future in English, e.g. 'Will Smith will be appearing on TV next Thursday."
- Dick vs dick; Willy vs willy; Peter vs peter
OK, it's time to get a bit sexual now... The words 'dick', 'willy' and 'peter' refer to the male body parts... Why would anyone choose these names for a child? Hehehe.
We could say that baby Willy is touching his willy all the time.
The word 'peter' is also a verb (normally followed by the adverb 'out), which means 'to diminish gradually', for example, 'my creativity petered out'.
(I'll spare the photos on this one hehehe).
- Eve vs eve
Who doesn't know Eve? The first woman in the whole damn world? Well, apart from being a proper noun, lower-case 'eve' depicts the evening before a special day, as seen in Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve.
'Eve didn't buy the apple on Christmas eve.'
- Jack vs jack
The name 'Jack' is famous all across the world. I'll just give the examples of the superb actor Jack Nicholson, or the wide-known Londoner serial killer Jack, the ripper.
Aside from this, the word 'jack' is jargon used in the electricity world: "a female fitting in an electric circuit used with a plug to make a connection with another circuit."
'Jack had to buy a jack to solve the electricity connection problem.'
- Mark vs mark
One of my favourite pairs, as it is the name of my second son. Apart from my son, I imagine you happen to have heard of Facebook's creator Mark Zuckerberg. In the literature field, does Mark Twain ring a bell?
The word 'mark' has tons of other meaning. In plural, it refers to the grades you get when you study, as in the expressions: get good / bad marks. The word 'mark' has other meanings, such as 'sign': 'a mark of intelligence'.
'I really hope my son Mark gets good marks in the future.'
- Other names: The list of examples goes on and on and on. 'Pat', 'Snoopy', 'Hulk,' and 'John', to name a few have lower-case counterparts.
I hope you find this entry interesting. You can post some other examples of funny capitonyms if you like. I'll soon write another and final entry on this issue.
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