What are pantomimes and why are they important at Christmas?

   From: https://pixahive.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Street-Play-in-Abu-Dhabi-4909-pixahive.jpg

 Merry Christmas to you all!

I hope you've been good enough and I hope the red plump man has brought you tons of presents.

Today I'm writing the traditional Christmas blog entry and this time I have decided to feature pantomimes (or 'pantos', its short clipping).

Outside the UK, a pantomime is "any of various dramatic or dancing performances in which a story is told by expressive bodily or facial movements of the performers." However, in the UK, pantomimes are a bit more specific and, as seen on the online Merriam Webster, a pantomime is "a British theatrical entertainment of the Christmas season based on a nursery tale and featuring topical songs, tableaux, and dances." Yes, when the Christmas season is around the corner, it is mandatory to see a pantomime at the theatre. They typically begin in December and are usually on until New Year's Eve. But, what are the typical characteristics of British pantos?

• Reinterpretation of a fairy tale (Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Aladin,...)
• They star some jaded celebrities (or some still unknown celebs)
• Cross-dressing (men dressing as women, or the other way round)
• High camp, that is, exaggerated or artificial parodies
• Audience interaction: the audience is expected to take part in the action of the play and will play an active role by telling a character something, or warning about some forthcoming dangers... There's even singalong (audience should sing songs with the characters of the play)
• Even if ideally thought for children, these pantos are more often than not enjoyed by grown-ups
• Tradititonal elements of fairy tales: good-hearted protagonist, villain, fairies, animals...

Sounds interesting, doesn't it? I haven't had the opportunity to attend a Christmas pantomime event myself, but if I could, I would definitely check one out! Here you have the link to some of the most popular pantos this Christmas, involding Aladdin, Peter Pan, the Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and many more fairy tale characters. 

If you want to learn more about Christmas pantomimes, here you have a very interesting link with plenty of information...

Happy New Year!

See you again in 2023!

P.S. Should you like to learn more about Christmas, do not hesitate to visit my previous entries : New Year resolutions; Christmas-touching videos; Boxing Day; Christmas vocabulary; Christmas videos; Practise your listening at Christmas; Christmas carols; Christmas in Spain, the UK and the US; Christmas short stories; Christmas origins; Christmas gift-bringers all across the world; happy Chrimbo and some quirks about Christmas; Christmas pantomimes.

An unforgettable English pronunciation pattern: double consonants in English prevent diphthongisation

From: https://writingexplained.org/diner-vs-dinner-difference

Hello again!

Last August I wrote and prepared this fresh new entry, which I intended to publish during the first days of September. Man! I've been so busy going back to work that I haven't had time to publish an already prepared entry!

I will write my first entry in September (although I'm publishing it today on September, 29th) about a very interesting English pronunciation pattern. As you know, English can be daunting for Spaniards because of its tricky pronunciation, but there are certain patterns or secret rules that can be learnt in order to guess how a given word might be pronounced. 

Today I'm sharing with you one of these patterns involvind double consonants -and by double consonants I mean, two identical consonants together.

In English, every time we have the pattern: vowel + consonant+ vowel, there's usually a diphthong involved :

1) a + consonant + e: DIPHTHONG [eɪ]. Examples: plane, cake, name, same, plate, base...

2) i + conosonant + e: DIPHTONG [aɪ]. Examples: time, file, bike, ride, hide,...

3) o + consonant + e: DIPHTHONG [əʊ]. Examples: phone, code, rode, gnome, coke, scope...

However, this rule or pattern is broken whenever there's a double consonant involved. In this case, the double consonant prevent the previous vowel from diphthongising. A good example to explain this is 'apple'. Being spelt with double 'p' this word can never be pronounced [*'eɪpl] and it is pronounced ['æpl]. Sounds complicated? Let's see this with some other practical examples:

•  Dinner ['dɪnə] vs diner ['daɪnə]: These two words are indeed similar in orthography but different in pronunciation and meaning: 'Dinner' is the meal normally eaten at night and 'diner' is the typical American restaurants where you can have sandwiches and lots of coffee. 'Dinner' is spelt with double n, so there's no possible diphthong. The word is pronounced ['dɪnə],whereas 'diner' ['dɪnə] is written with just one 'n', so it follows the pattern described in number 2, that is, i + consonant + e, hence it is pronounced with the diphthong [aɪ]. The same happens to the words 'dining' (room), and the verb 'dine'

• Writing ['raɪtɪɳ] vs written ['rɪtn] // Biting ['baɪtɪɳ] vs bitten ['bɪtn]:  The verb 'write' and its gerund 'writing' are spelt with one 't', so they follow the pattern in number 2 and are prounced with the diphthong [aɪ]. The participle 'written', however, is spelt with double 't', so there's no possible diphthong and the vowel before the double consonant is shortened [ɪ]. During my career as an English teacher, I have seen the word 'writing' misspelt thousands of times! Most of my students write it with double 't' (*writting). I always tell them if that word were spelt with double 't' it would be pronounced *['rɪtɪɳ]. The same thing goes with 'biting' (gerund of 'bite') and 'bitten' (British participle of 'bite')

• Riding ['raɪdɪɳ] vs ridden ['rɪdn]: This example is similar to the previous one. The verb 'ride' is pronounced with the diphthong [aɪ]. However, its participle, being spelt with double 'd', is pronounced without the diphthong. 

• Plane [pleɪn] vs planned  // cane [keɪn] vs canned [kænd] // bane [beɪn] vs banned [bænd]: 'Plane' (the means of transport with wings), 'cane' (the object some elderly people need to walk) and 'bane' (destruction, Batman's enemy) fit in the pattern described in number 1: a + consonant +e, hence they are pronounced with the diphthong [eɪ]. However, 'planned' (the past of the verb 'plan'--make plans), 'canned' (put food in cans -- canned food), and 'banned' (prohibited) are spelt with double 'n', which makes the diphthong impossible. Instead, they are pronounced with the short vowel [æ].

• Mike [maɪk] vs Mickey ['mɪki] // biker ['baɪkə] vs bicker ['bɪkə]: This case is quirky, as the examples here do not technically refer to a double consonant, but the letters <ck>, which both represent the same sound [k], as if they actually were a double consonant. Let's begin with the hypochorisms of my name. 'Mike' fits in the pattern of number 2: i+consonant + e, hence it is pronounced with diphthong [aɪ]. However, the word 'Mickey' is spelt with <ck>, which technically works as double [k] sound and this prevents the diphthong. The same thing occurs with 'biker' (the person who uses a bike) and 'bicker' (argue).

• Sitting ['sɪtɪɳ] vs citing ['saɪtɪɳ]: Yet another example of gerunds. 'Sitting', being spelt with double 't' is pronounced with the short sound [ɪ], whereas 'citing' (the gerund of the verb 'cite') is pronounced with the diphthong [aɪ], as it fits in the pattern of number 2. 

• File [faɪl] vs filled [fɪld] // mile [maɪl] vs milled [mɪld]: 'File' and 'mile' are pronounced with the diphthong [aɪ], as they fit in the pattern explained in number 2. However, the words 'filled' (past of 'fill') and 'milled' (past of 'mill'), being both spelt with double 'l', are pronounced with the short sound [ɪ].

• Winning ['wɪnɪɳ] vs whining ['waɪnɪɳ]: 'Winning' (the opposite of 'losing') is spelt with double 'n', hence there is no diphthong, whereas 'whining' (complaining) does have a diphthong as it is just spelt with one single 'n'.

• Pale [peɪl] , vale [veɪl], vile [vaɪl] vs pallor ['pælə] , valley ['væli] and villain ['vɪlən]: I love these examples as they refer to closely related words, but they sometimes have a dipthong and they sometimes have a short sound. The adjectives 'pale' and 'vile' are both uttered with a diphthong as they fit in the pattern described in numbers 1 and 2 and they are spelt with one single 'l'. Their nouns 'pallor' and 'villain', however, are uttered with short sounds as they are spelt with  double 'l', which prevents diphthongisation. The words 'vale' and 'valley' are synonyms. 'Vale' has the diphthong [eɪ], but 'valley', being spelt with double 'l' has no diphthong. 

Well, I hope this English pronunciation trick has been useful for you. This is the trick I use to tell my students why 'apple' has no diphthong at all...

Here you have the link to other entries involving English pronunciation: minimal pairs;  difficult geographical words to pronounce; difficult words to pronounce; same or different?; 10 tricks to improve your English pronunciation; homographs; pronunciation of -ed forms; exercises on -ed endings; double consonants in English prevent diphthongisation; 

See you around.

Capytonims III: other capitonyms

Hello there!

Some time ago this year, I wrote two entries about capitonyms, words whose meaning changes depending on the capitalization of their first letter. I wrote an entry related to capitonyms involving geographical places; another entry about capitonyms involving proper nouns or surnames and I vowed to write another entry on other capitonyms. I promised to write it soon and I said this in February... Well, August is here and I have, at last, found some time to finish with capitonyms.

1) March vs march

From: https://openclipart.org/detail/260422/soldiers-marching and https://publicdomainvectors.org/en/free-clipart/March-on-paper/70877.html

The first one obviously refers to the third month of the year, while the second one is the action of marching, that is, moving steadily and rhythmically. 'The soldiers' march took place in March.' 

2) Titanic vs titanic

From: https://www.mythweb.com/today/media/titan06.gif

From: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Titanic_Starboard_View_1912.gif 

The word with capital 't' refers to the well-known cruise ship that would undergo a tragic fate... The word with lower case is a synonym of 'colossal' or 'gigantic': 'The Titanic was a titanic ship that sank in the sea.'

3) Lent vs lent

From: https://freesvg.org/img/lendee.png

From: https://freesvg.org/img/LentNo40.png

The capitalised word depicts the 40-day period from Ash Wednesday to Easter, when people are expected to fast and not to eat meat on Fridays. The lower-case word is the past form of the verb 'lend': 'During Lent, John always lent a helping hand to his neighbours.'

4) August vs august

From: http://image.slidesharecdn.com/wow14-15-150326121801-conversion-gate01/95/wow-14-15-9-638.jpg

From: https://openclipart.org/download/282676/NoteAugust.svg

The former refers to the eighth month of the year, whereas the latter makes reference to someone or something possessing great dignity or grandeur: 'This august mansion was built in August.' 

5) Earth vs earth

From: https://freesvg.org/planet-earth

From: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cracks_in_the_Earth_%28Unsplash%29.jpg

While the first word refers to our planet, the second word refers to the ground. 'The Earth's earth is just 29%.' 

6) May vs may

From: https://publicdomainvectors.org/es/vectoriales-gratuitas/Nota-mensual---mayo/70895.html

From: https://mingle-ish.com/grammar/verbs/modal-verbs/modals-may-might/

The word with capital 'm' is the fifth month of the year. The word with lower-case 'm' makes reference to the modal verb which expresses probability: 'It may rain in May.'

7) New Year vs new year

From: https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=311899&picture=happy-new-year-glasses

                                                                                                                                                                From: https://www.pinterest.com/maryanne_mein/new-year/

You see how capitalising changes things? 'New Year' refers to January, 1st, whereas 'new year' refers to any year that has just begun (any new year, so to speak). 'On New Year's day, I can only think of the resolutions for the new year.'

8) Mass vs mass

From: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bishop_dan_IC_mass_host.jpg

From: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Universal_gravitational_mass.jpg

The capitalised 'Mass' refers to the religious liturgy of Eucharist. It is frequently capitalised but it is not compulsory. The lower-case 'mass' may refer to a great quantity or amount of something, or simply the main part or bulk. 'During Sunday Mass, they talked about mass hysteria'.

Well, with this entry I have concluded the capitonyms issue. I hope I haven't bored you to death he he. 

See you around

Some collocations with the word 'heatwave'

 Hiya!

How's your summer going? How are you coping with this sultry weather and sweltering heat? It seems that the world is seeing an uncommon heatwave that is lasting longer than usual, for example, the temperatures in London have soared to 40ºC, which makes it one of the hottest summers ever!

I'm pretty sure you all have noticed that this summer is hotter than usual... This situation has encouraged me to write this post in which I'll be dealing with some words that collocate with 'heatwave'.

I'll start with a definition of 'heatwave'. Merriam Webster defines it as "a period of unusually hot weather".  This current heatwave is flooding the media and journals, radios and TVs are all reporting this unexpected surge in temperatures. After reading some of  this news, here you have some of the most common collocations with the word 'heatwave', I have gathered:

From: https://www.facebook.com/EyeOnTheSky/videos/the-heat-wave-is-over-heres-a-summary-from-several-cities-and-towns-around-the-r/1891167690940293/

ADJECTIVE + HEATWAVE

There are some adjectives that describe the big temperatures linked to the heatwave:

- Stifling heatwave: 'Stifling' is something that kills by deprivation of oxygen. "Stifling heatwave grips central United States" (Reuters, 15 June 2022)

- Scorching heatwave: 'Scorching' can be defined as something that causes intense heat. "Brits brace for another scorching heatwave next week"  (Express,  6 August 2022)

- Suffocating heatwave: If something is suffocating, it means you die by being unable to breathe. "Is Spain's suffocating heatwave finally ending?" (The Local, 27 July 2022)

- Torrid heatwave: If something is torrid, it gives off intense heat, especially from the sun. "Torrid heatwave sends mercury soaring" (Times Now, 26 April 2022)

- Searing heatwave: The adjective 'searing' refers to something very hot. "Searing heatwave to spark huge lightning blasts across Britain." (Express, 28 July 2022)

- Gruelling / grueling heatwave: If something is 'gruelling', it is exhausting. "Gruelling heatwave sears Pacific north-west." (The Guardian, 27 July)

There are some adjectives that describe the intensity of the heatwave:

Ferocious / fierce / intense/ deadly / severe / extreme / powerful / brutal are all adjectives that collocate with the word 'heatwave'. 

Other adjectives depict the duration of a heatwave: 

Long / prolonged/ extended / unprecedented heatwave

HEATWAVE + VERB

A heatwave can 'hit' or 'strike' a country / 'sweep' or 'spread' across a country / 'grip' or 'hammer' a country. A heatwave can also 'bake' or 'cook' a country.

"UK set for record temperatures as heat wave hits Europe" (The Washington Post, 18 July 2022)

"Record temperatures in Shanghai as heatwave strikes China" (Uca News, 14 July 2022)

"Extreme heat wave sweeps across many European countries" (USA Today, 18 July 2022)

"Europe swelters as heatwave spreads" (BBC News, 13 July 2022)

"Heatwave grips Europe, temperatures set to soar past 40ºC" (Outlook, 7 August 2022)

"Heatwaves hammer megacities in China's Yangtze River basin" (Reuters, 14 July 2022)

"Unprecedented heatwave cooks western Europe" (Euronews, 20 June 2022)

"Record-breaking heatwave bakes Americans" (Inquirer News, 21 July)

VERB + HEATWAVE

Combat / endure / face / prevent / survive / survive / cope with  a heatwave

Now that there are said to be more and more heatwaves every year, I hope you can use these collocations to talk about heatwaves more accurately! 

You can also see other entries related to this: summer vocabulary; holidays vocabulary; holidays collocations; hot weather; frolicking in the water.

Practise your listening: women inventors to celebrate International Women's Day!

Hiya!

Today it's Match, 8th, which means it's International Women's Day.

It is crystal clear that we have a long way to go to achieve total equality. Nowadays women still earn less than men;they are worse regarded when it comes to their children's upbringing; they can't roam the streets alone at night without being afraid of what might happen to them; they are somehow forced to tuck their careers away when they become pregnant; and they are -still in the twenty-first century-  battered and killed to death by their jealous, abusive partners, not to mention the hard situations that women in western countries have to endure... What is clear is that women today have to fight harder to gain the exact sale recognition than men; they have to struggle in order to get their place in history.

And here you have a very good example of five outstanding women inventors that need to.be remembered and recognised...

Here you have the exercise I used in the past with my students of B2.

Match women 1-5 to the correct sentence A-. There are some sentences you won't need.

1. MELITTA BENZ

2. BETTY NESMITH GRAHAM

3. MARJORIE JOYNER

4. MARY ANDERSON

5. MARY BEATRICE KENNER

A) THIS WOMAN IMPROVED WOMEN'S SANITARY CONDITIONS
B) THIS WOMAN EXPERIMENTED DIFFERENT COOKING METHODS
C) THIS WOMAN APPLIED KITCHEN STUFF TO ANOTHER FIELD OF EXPERTISE
D) THANKS TO HER, A DRINK WAS IMPROVED
E) THIS WOMAN HID THE INVENTION FROM HER BOSSES
F)  THIS WOMAN GREW INCREDIBLY RICH
G) THIS WOMAN PAID THE TOLL OF TARDINESS
H) THIS WOMAN INVENTED TOILET PAPER



Answers: 1D 2E 3C 4G 5A

To finish this entry, here you have another video about women inventors that will make you reflect a little bit.

See you around!

PRACTISE YOUR LISTENING: RIO DE JANEIRO'S CARNIVAL

 Hiya!

How's your Carnival going? Did you enjoy the Carnival parade? Did you dress up for a Carnival party? Did you make your own costume for Carnival? Last week I wrote an entry on Carnival vocabulary. Today I'm proposing a listening activity related to one of the most famous Carnivals across the world, no other than Rio de Janeiro's Carnival.

The video is a bit old and I used it some time ago in my classes. However, I really like it now, as it makes me become green with envy of the things we could do in the past when Covid 19 hadn't hit us hard...I'm looking forward to living an experience like the ones you can see on the video: binge alcohol, festive mood,...

Anyway, here you have the exercise and I'll post the answers at the end of this entry. I hope you like. 

Have a look at the video https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-latin-america-21421812/rio-rev and fill in the gaps with a maximum  of 5 words. Item 0 is an example:

0. Rio’s Carnival is in full _swing_.

1. The first girl reckons that Rio’s Carnival is everybody’s favourite holiday for the people in _____________.

2. The city is trying to prevent people from ______________________ on the streets.

3. According to the driver, drugs and alcohol make people do  _____________________.

4. _____________ people are in the sambadrome to see the samba schools compete.

5. This year there’s a wide variety of themes including South Korea, the Amazon and ______________________.

6. Hundreds of ________________ have been deployed for the event.

Answers: 1 the bus  2 urinating 3 abnormal things 4 70,000 5 Brazil's soap operas 6 extra police

Here you have yet another exercise to revise the Carnival vocabulary seen in my previous entry:

DOWNLOAD THE EXERCISE HERE

I really hope you have practised your English and enjoyed Carnival.

See you around.

It's Carnival! It's about time to dress up and...revise your English vocabulary!

 Hiya!

You're walking down the street in your neighbourhood and you see a lot of children going to or coming back from school in their costumes... You're not getting crazy, it's just Carnival! Carnival is a tradition celebrated in Spain and in many other parts in the world (such as Rio de Janeiro, Venice...).

It's not an outstanding tradition in the English-speaking world (if you travel to the UK or the US they probably won't know much about this tradition). However, Carnival is a great opportunity to improve your English vocab, so why not dedicate an entry to this wonderful tradition?

ACTIONS YOU DO AT CARNIVAL

• DRESS UP / WEAR A COSTUME / DISGUISE YOURSELF AS A (MONKEY)
• MAKE YOUR OWN COSTUME
• WEAR MAKE-UP / USE MAKE-UP / MAKE UP (verb)
• ENJOY THE CARNIVAL PARADE 
• ENJOY THE FIREWORK DISPLAY
• BE IN A FESTIVE MOOD
• TAKE PART IN BULLRUNS (IN CIUDAD RODRIGO)
• PAINT YOUR FACE 
• DANCE TO THE FESTIVE MUSIC
• GO PARTYING

CARNIVAL ACCESSORIES, OUTFITS AND OBJECTS

                 FANGS                                         MASKS

 

                  CONFETTI                                 FEATHERS

             WIG                                            TINSEL

            VEST AND HAT                               CAPE

BOW, SWORD, ARROWS                     BALLOONS

    FAKE GLASSES, NOSE                   GUN

        AND MOUSTACHE

CARNIVAL COSTUMES

These are examples of some Carnival costumes:

• Sponge Bob Square Pants
• Pirate
• Cowboy / cowgirl
• Clown
• Vampire
• Soldier
• Doctor
• Superhero
• Archer
• Magician
• Police officer
• Fairy
• Vampire
• Witch
• Werewolf
• Indian
• Ghost
• Princess
• Skeleton
• Knight
• Viking

Here you have some ideas for some Carnival costumes, if you are into handcrafts, he he. 

Here you have the link and presentation to an old entry on fairy tale characters

And to conclude, here you have an English video which reuses some of the Carnival vocabulary we're seen in this entry:

I'll soon be sharing with you some exercises related to Carnival. In the meantime, enjoy Carnival if you can and dress up!

Capitonyms II: learn the meaning of your name or surname

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."

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.