LJWorld.com

fundamental (Anonymous) says…

Is there any reason why a dumpster received the designation of being capitalized in this story? That doesn't make sense. Maybe if it said “the Dumpster” I would understand, but it doesn't specify which dumpster. Therefore, it should probably not be capitalized.

Solomon (Anonymous) says…

Isn't Dumpster a brand name, like Coke or Kleenex?

yellowhouse (Anonymous) says…

Isn't dumpst diving a crime?

Multidisciplinary (Anonymous) says…

Maybe it was Lizard Man.
(Nice to have a local legend to blame things on)
http://web.charleston.net/news/2008/may/…

PeteJayhawk (Anonymous) says…

Yes, Dumpster is a brand name, hence the capitalization.

OldEnuf2BYurDad (Anonymous) says…

Now the family can have closure…

fundamental (Anonymous) says…

Well, if Dumpster is worthy of being capitalized, shouldn't it then be used as an identifying adjective, such as Xerox copier or Kleenex facial tissue. Perhaps they could have said “a Dumpster trash bin” or something. And how do we know if it really is a Dumpster brand trash receptacle? It could be from any other manufacturer, couldn't it?

WereAllMonkeys (Anonymous) says…

Fundamental,
If you are so worried about a capitol d, why then do you begin a sentence with 'And'?

fundamental (Anonymous) says…

Well, WereAllMonkeys (I guess LJWorld.com doesn't allow puctuation in screen names, unless your screen name is the beginning of an odd question concerning the collective past of a vast number of primates), it is generally acceptable (if slightly informal) grammar to begin a sentence with the word “and,” so long as the sentence contains all the appropriate components, which my above sentence does. As the comments section of an LJWorld.com story isn't exactly the editorial page of The New York Times, I figured I could get away with a little informality. Perhaps I was mistaken.

By the way, I'm not so much worried about a “capitol d” as I am with the capital “D.”

Write2Know (Anonymous) says…

Great comment Dayna!

WHY (Anonymous) says…

All of you people who get up in the morning to proofread the paper need to find a more appropriate outlet for your desire to impress the rest of us with your intellectual tidbits. I believe the term for this behavior is mental masturbation.

sharper (Anonymous) says…

Actually, Fundmental is right. It's perfectly okay to begin a sentence with a conjunction. However, most teachers tell you not to because it easily lends itself to basic grammatical sentences rather than challenging students to take on greater flexibility with their sentence structure. (And I went to the store. And I bought a cookie. And I ate it. But I didn't like it.)

Some teachers are sticklers for it though.

sharper (Anonymous) says…

Whoops, Fundamental. Definitely need that extra cup of coffee this morning if I'm dropping off an “a” here and there.

fundamental (Anonymous) says…

WHY,

You say potato, I say pot-ah-to.
You say tomato, I say you're a douchebag.

Ha!

Multidisciplinary (Anonymous) says…

I don't approve of namecalling, but that was so funny, I can't type.

ontheotherhand (Anonymous) says…

Wow WHY,

The fact that you would liken mental awareness and intellectual stimulation to mental masturbation tells us much about your mental faculties. We can only guess (NOT!) about the other part . . .

WHY (Anonymous) says…

Determining whether the word dumpster should be capitalized does not count as “mental awareness and intellectual stimulation”. Speaking of stimulation what do you call that activity people do alone in their room while surfing the web and pretending to be engaged with the outside world, which wants nothing to do with them. Thats right masturbation.

fundamental (Anonymous) says…

WHY,

I don't even know where to begin, but here goes…

While it is likely that what qualifies as “mental awareness and intellectual stimulation” is quite different for me than it is for you (or anybody else, for that matter), your supposition that quibbling over the capitalization of a letter is not such is quite a subjective statement. I like to challenge myself to find errors (or oddities that require further investigation or explanation, as happened in the above story) in prose so that, as iron sharpens iron, I might make myself a better writer. You clearly do not share my passion for these details. Otherwise, I assume you might have found time to add an apostrophe in your last sentence (“Thats?” seriously?), or a comma after “stimulation” in the second sentence of your previous post, but perhaps such accuracies are below me, I mean you.

funkdog1 (Anonymous) says…

I would bet that since “dumpster” is between “Monday” and “Sunrise Apartments” which are both capitalized, that someone just made a simple typo.

WHY (Anonymous) says…

Fundamental, it appears that you have climaxed.

ontheotherhand (Anonymous) says…

WHY (Anonymous) says…
….. Speaking of stimulation what do you call that activity people do alone in their room while surfing the web and pretending to be engaged with the outside world, which wants nothing to do with them.

Answer: I would have to say “Pulling a WHY.” :)

(Said in pure fun. Lighten up, WHY! Life is too short.)

Tanetti (Anonymous) says…

Wow … I'm a copy editor and even I'm annoyed by this rambling grammar discussion. Dumpster = trademark = capitalized unless you want a strongly worded letter from the trademark holder. The generic term is “trash bin.” To say both is redundant. Say what you will about the LJW but in this instance it's following standard journalism procedure. I've seen many a proofreading/editing test with “dumpster” on it, where you're supposed to cap it.

RomanNose (Anonymous) says…

I'm not accusing anybody, but it was probably a Memphis fan.

fundamental (Anonymous) says…

Tanetti,

I admitted as much above, when I referred to the subject as one of those “oddities that require further investigation or explanation.” It was explained to me, and I have accepted it. I enjoy learning new things, and this is a new thing to me. Sorry to have annoyed you.

fundamental (Anonymous) says…

WHY,

I can go all day/night like this. You wouldn't know my climax if it hit you in the face.

Snap!

(This comment will be removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement)

Eride (Anonymous) says…

“

Tanetti (Anonymous) says…

Wow … I'm a copy editor and even I'm annoyed by this rambling grammar discussion. Dumpster = trademark = capitalized unless you want a strongly worded letter from the trademark holder. The generic term is “trash bin.” To say both is redundant. Say what you will about the LJW but in this instance it's following standard journalism procedure. I've seen many a proofreading/editing test with “dumpster” on it, where you're supposed to cap it.
”

––––––––––––––––––––––––

Actually you are wrong. The usage of the term dumpster is allowable because it is a genericized trademark.

WHY (Anonymous) says…

Answer: I would have to say “Pulling a WHY.” :)

This is one of my favorite comments ever. You made me smile.

Crossfire (Anonymous) says…

Funny-a-Mental Dumb-ster….

dirkleisure (Anonymous) says…

Fundy, don't ever read stories about Arena Football.

Lots of times, players crash into the Plexiglas.

That's gonna kill you on two fronts - capital P and only one s.

Just look away! Whatever you do, when they open the Ark do not open your eyes!

fundamental (Anonymous) says…

I can't wait to see the new Indiana Jones movie. It's going to be great.

And I really don't care about the distinction between generic terms and their trademarked geneses. I just like to learn and be challenged every once in a while.

By the way, I've seen Arena Football, but I've never seen any Plexiglas at an Arena Football game. They have boards on the outside and nets in either end zone, but no Plexiglas. I've seen Plexiglas at hockey arenas and at the HHH Metrodome in Minneapolis ca. 1991, and I've learned not to confuse Plexiglas with the NY Football Giants' reciever, Plaxico Burress, but I've never seen such at an Arena Football game.

kansaskev61 (Anonymous) says…

It was probably embarrassed by all that nonsense painted over his body and he cut off his own head in the woods and then flew off and died in the dumpster.

Pink_Sock (Anonymous) says…

Dumpster Diving is a crime. Ask the Muy Tuy Jedi.
Was any CSI done to find the culprit?

183910 (Anonymous) says…

u all missed the .
is mcaffrey related to RED DOG
she seems to get her name in the paper alot

jonas (Anonymous) says…

Somebody told me to bring this package here, exactly at 7:00.

“What's in the box?! Ahhh man, what's in the box?!”

“Become wrath!”

/obscure?

Jay_lo (Anonymous) says…

fundamental,

With apologies;

“To bullsh*t, perhaps to dream!”

No it really isn't a quote, but yet somehow, more fitting. If you truly like to challenge yourself to find “oddities that require further investigation or explanation”, then you could do so, as “mental masturbation” would suggest, in the privacy of your own home.

What you really do enjoy, as you initially correctly stated, and which is more than obvious throughout your responses is to “find errors”, and not only to find these errors, but to point them out to those unfortunate enough to have committed such while attempting to engage you in conversation.

Should you actually be interested in becoming a better writer by examining the prose of others, then you would be better served to challenge yourself to express, in more creative ways, the opinions of such writers.

The only passion which you have, thus far, exhibited is one for dissecting the writings of everyone else for the sole purpose of making minor grammatical corrections, while ignoring the total context of the statements presented.

Truth be known, you can no more be challenged, or learn from such actions than any English teacher grading papers for grammatical accuracy.

Reply as you wish, for I am retiring for the evening, unconcerned as to what Earth shattering errors I may have committed in my command of the English language.

Learn on my friend, learn on.

Multidisciplinary (Anonymous) says…

dirkleisure (Anonymous) says…

Fundy, don't ever read stories about Arena Football.

Lots of times, players crash into the Plexiglas.

That's gonna kill you on two fronts - capital P and only one s.

Just look away! Whatever you do, when they open the Ark do not open your eyes!
––––
Thinking and being funny at the same time.
Dirk gets more gold stars on the wall chart.
gg^^

igby (Anonymous) says…

I bet they used it at a keg party and a naked hooker jumped out of it.

AnonymousCoward (Anonymous) says…

Apologies for the intrusion; please let me just jump in for a moment and ask who owns this trademark that journalists so fiercely protect?

Try this: go to dumpster.com, and note that there are no fewer than nine instances of the word “dumpster” on that home page… and none are capitalized, save for the all-screaming-cap headline.

Thank you. You may masturbate in peace again.

beatrice (Anonymous) says…

The Jayhawks on Parade sculptures are to public art what People magazine is to literature. However, this doesn't mean they should be vandalized.

Simple rule, if it ain't yours, don't break it. (Just wanted to throw “ain't” in there to add fuel to the grammar wars.)