I've recently notice a phenomenon that probably isn't news to anyone but me. I've been busy lately so I'm not as sharp as usual...maybe that's it. I was reading the paper and happened to catch several references to Winter Texans...notice the capital letters. When I left the Valley nearly 40 years ago, they were snowbirds, lower case. Capitalization for both words is in order I guess since winter is not just an adjective but has been joined with Texans to describe the wonderful people from far away who come down to enjoy the mild winters here, In that case, it should be capitalized. winter Texan wouldn't look good in print. You might get the idea that we should also be looking for spring Texans looking for birds or summer Texans looking for a tan. Now, unlike TV's, CD's, & SUV's, we haven't yet shortened the Winter Texans to WT's, but check back in a few years.
Capital letters used to be only used grammatically for names, the first words of sentences, titles (like MD's), and in military jargon (GI Joe, JEEP). Then, they gained prominence for emphasizing words in a sentence when a point HAD TO BE MADE. From there the capital letter enjoyed a season of prominence as people could TYPE IN ALL CAPS, FINDING IT WAS EASIER AND FASTER. Alas, with the advent of email and a whole new set of etiquette rules, the use of all capital letters has fallen from grace as it's considered SHOUTING TO TYPE IN ALL CAPS! Who came up with that rule? Probably some soft spoken WT!
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